Asia May Have Become Top Buyer of South African Coal

[phantom power]

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Asia may have overtaken Europe for the first time as the biggest purchaser of South African coal in 2009, according to Raymond Chirwa, Richards Bay Coal Terminal’s chief executive officer.

Shipment levels to Asia and Europe in the year’s first 10 months were similar, while the final two months are being calculated, Chirwa said in a phone interview today. “It would be a big shift” if Asia were the largest buyer, he said.

Richards Bay, on South Africa’s northeastern coast, handles almost all of the nation’s outbound coal shipments and is owned by Anglo American Plc and its other leading exporters of the fuel. While the port is the biggest source of coal for European power plants, Asian buyers have been increasing purchases, including lower-quality fuel.

“You have strong growth in India and weakness, if not contraction, in terms of growth in Europe,” Daniel Brebner, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in London, said in an interview. “It isn’t surprising that you are seeing this evolution of exports by the South Africans into near Asia.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aurZU9knEYvg

[NNadir]

1. That's bad news for Germany. They were counting on that coal for energy

post nuke phase out.

http://peakoil.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=30476