Asian buyer confirms rare S. African coal purchase

SYDNEY (Reuters) – A North Asian company has bought South African coal for the first time in about three years, despite the long shipping distance, to compensate for tight local supplies, a source at the buyer’s company said on Thursday.

The deal, concluded in February but only recently brought to light, is for 45,000 tonnes of high-quality coal delivered in three shipments during this year, the first due in April, said the source, who declined to be identified by name or company.


The news confirms weeks of speculation that North Asian importers, squeezed by tightening supplies from China and Indonesia, have started to buy coal from South Africa despite higher freight costs and the longer distance.

The company source said the company had bought the coal — with 6,000 kcal/kg Net As Received (NAR), 15 percent ash and less than one percent sulphur — from a South African producer at about $50 a tonne. He declined to name the producer.

Reuters