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In today's blog we take a detailed look at South Africa's coal exports. Where is South Africa's coal exports going, how much coal is South Africa exporting and what is the price South Africa is getting for their coal exports from the various countries it exports it too. Are some countries willing to pay more for coal? Or do we export different qualities of coal to the various countries and hence the different prices? We take a look at the above questions below.
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The ten biggest destinations of South Africa's coal exports
The pie chart below shows the 10 biggest export destinations for South Africa's coal exports. Surprising to see is the fact that over the time period January 2010 to June 2017, India made up just over 46% of South Africa's total coal exports (in terms of value). That is almost half of South Africa's coal exports (in terms of value) heading to India. Coal exports to India from January 2010 to June 2017 amounted to R139,9billion. A distant 2nd place goes to China to which South Africa exported just over R33.4billion in coal, that is roughly 11% of South Africa's coal exports).
The second pie chart we will be looking at is where coal being exported leaves South Africa's borders from. And there is absolutely no surprises here, as the Richards Bay Coal Terminal processes the vast majority of coal exports from South Africa to the rest of the world.
Similarly to the crude oil imports article we did yesterday in which crude oil was predominantly handled at Durban harbor, the vast majority of South Africa's coal exports is handled at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal. A dedicated terminal to deal with South Africa's massive coal exports.
Note we took the data as obtained from Customs. Certain classification problems might be contained in the data.
As can be seen from the bar chart below the price obtained per kilogram of coal does not vary significantly across the various countries South Africa export coal too.
As can be seen from the bar chart below the price obtained per kilogram of coal does not vary significantly across the various countries South Africa export coal too.
Readers will note that there is large number of Asian and European countries on the list of countries South Africa export coal too. It is a plus for South Africa that there are various markets it can offset this commodity too.
So what is the average amount of coal South Africa exports per month per year? The following bar chart shows the average amount (in Rands and the amount of kilograms) of coal exported per month per year.
The bar chart below shows the average monthly value and quantity of coal exports from South Africa per year, from 2010 up to June 2017. The table below presents the data of the above graphic in table format.
Year |
Value (Rand) |
Quantity (kg) |
2010 |
3.2bil |
5.7bil |
2011 |
4.4bil |
5.8bil |
2012 |
4.5bil |
6.3bil |
2013 |
4.6bil |
6.2bil |
2014 |
4.4bil |
6.3bil |
2015 |
4.1bil |
6.4bil |
2016 |
4.9bil |
6.2bil |
2017 |
5.7bil |
6.5bil |
As can be seen from both the graphic and the table, South Africa's exports of coal per month, has gradually increased from 2010 to the current levels in 2017. And the value of coal exports have increased as the quantity has gone up. On average South Africa has been exporting R5.7billion worth of coal each money for the year 2017, while receiving on average R6.5billion a month for the 5.7billion kilograms of coal exported to the rest of the world. Strong coal exports in recent times has helped South Africa's trade balance with the rest of the world.