SA bulk exports rise 6.2% y/y in April to 16.2-million tons

Christophe Badoux via Wikimedia Commons - Port of Durban

The April y/y increase was the first y/y rise in 2016 after declines of 11.7%, 15.7% and 12.2% in March, February, and January respectively. This followed a 7.3% increase in 2015 to a record annual tonnage of 168 Mt.

Bulk exports out of Richards Bay, which is mostly coal, jumped 19.3% y/y in April to 8.6 Mt after growing 8.2% in 2015 to 93 Mt. As Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) no longer releases operational statistics, economists are finding it more difficult to track economic performance in SA in a timeous manner.

Despite the 40% plunge in the iron ore price in 2015, bulk exports out of Saldanha, which is mostly iron ore, increased 12.7% in 2015 to 63.4 Mt, but in April 2016 there was a 9.0% y/y fall to 6.5 Mt. If Saldanha exports are excluded, then total bulk exports would have grown by 19.5% y/y in April.

The 30% slump in the maize harvest last season compared with the previous season also affected bulk exports with grain and sugar bulk exports from the other ports such as Durban down 19.3% in 2015 to 11.6 Mt, although there was a surprise 12.8% y/y rise in December, the first y/y increase since January 2015.

In January 2016, bulk exports out of the other ports plunged 44.0% y/y to 742,140 tons but rose to 924,943 tons in February, which was still a 7.8% y/y decline.

In March, there was a 27.5% y/y jump to 899,038 tons and that good growth continued in April with a 20.6% y/y increase to 1,149,484 tons.

Despite the April y/y rise, total bulk exports are still down 8.2% y/y in the first four months of 2016.

Source: BDpro