South Africa-Mozambique border closure strands coal cargoes

• Mozambique's Maputo Port shut amid political unrest
  
  
• Trucking rates rise as cargoes redirected to SA's RBCT
  
  

Mysteel Global: South Africa has shut its Lebombo border crossing with neighbouring Mozambique due to escalating violent protests on the Mozambican side over the national election results announced in early October, according to the South African Border Management Authority on 5 November. The border port, located in South Africa's Mpumalanga province, will be closed "until further notice", according to the authority. So far, this move has led to hundreds of trucks laden with coal bound for Mozambique being stranded at the border crossing, sources disclosed.

The Lebombo crossing is a key trucking route for coal from South Africa to the port of Maputo in Mozambique. The port has also stopped receiving cargoes, according to the port's operator Maputo Port Development Company.

Maputo Port has become an important export port for South African coal, due to the limited transport capacity of South Africa's state rail operator Transnet, Mysteel Global notes.

The port's decision to refuse to accept trucks has forced coal traders to seek truckers to move their cargoes to the Richards Bay Coal Terminals (RBCT) in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province, pushing up trucking rates.

In the first nine months this year, South Africa's coal exports totalled 51.2 million tonnes, lower by a marked 6.8% compared with the same period last year, Mysteel Global reported.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.