South Africa’s thermal coal export industry is facing a “long-term, permanent decline” as new energy technologies replace coal-fired generation at a pace faster than was previously forecast and as financial institutions and diversified miners abandon the coal industry, a new report warns. Published by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), the report also cautions that the risk to South Africa is further amplified by the fact that its exporters are more dependent on a single import destination, India, than is the case for other major thermal coal exporting nations.
