Transnet sees slump in export coal volumes as ‘cyclical not structural’

State-owned logistics group Transnet reported a 6.5% fall, from 77-million tons to 72-million tons, in export coal volumes in 2018/19, but described the decline as cyclical rather than structural. The group attributed the slump to “operational challenges, derailments, community unrest, train cancellations as well as general low demand in the first quarter”.