South Africa plans Richards Bay terminal upgrade

Friday, 09 December 2011

South Africa plans to invest 3 billion rand over the next five years on new equipment to boost handling capacity at the Richards Bay Terminal RBT.L, Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said, Reuters reports.
RBT is a multi-purpose terminal and is different from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal RBCT.L that handles exclusively coal.
Gigaba told a business meeting in the Indian ocean port of Richards Bay that government was committed to have adequate investment in container handling at the port to give it a competitive advantage.

"We plan to invest 3 billion rand over the next 5 years at the RBT in loading equipments, off-loading equipments, conveyor belts and other handling equipment, bearing in mind that it is estimated that more might need to be invested over the next 7-8 years," Gigaba said.
Gigaba reiterated plans by state-owned logistics group Transnet to expand the coal export line leading to the RBCT to 81 million tonnes per year by 2016.
"This expansion of the coal export line will involve the migration of Eskom's domestic coal from road to rail, the establishment of the Waterberg rail, port expansion and capacity allocation to junior miners," he said.

RBCT is the world's single largest export coal terminal, with an expanded capacity of 91 million tonnes.

Source: Port News