London (Platts)--7Feb2013/709 am EST/1209 GMT

South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal exported 4.2 million mt of coal in January, down 5.6% on the year and down 38.3% from December to its lowest monthly volume since May 2011, the port said Wednesday in its monthly operating statistics.

The 91 million mt/year port had shipped 6.8 million mt in December, the highest monthly volume of coal in 2012.

January export volumes are traditionally lower than December, as sources have noted that RBCT shareholders tend to use December to catch up on any shortfall in the annual shipping program, with all vessels that have their Notice of Readiness in December and complete loading in January counted in the port's December operating statistics.

South African producers exporting out of RBCT are also known to ship out additional tons in December to reach annual targets and fulfill rail-or-pay agreements.

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One market source noted that, if the vessels that completed loading in January were included in the January total and not in the December volume, January export figures would be placed around 4.9 million mt, with December around 6.1 million mt.

Meanwhile, South African state-controlled logistics group Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) railed a five-month high of 6.2 million mt to RBCT in January, down 1.4% on-year, although recovering 17.8% from the 5.3 million mt railed in December, which was its lowest monthly performance in 10 months.

Higher railings and lower exports combined to result in end-of-month stocks at the port rising 16.3% on the year and 49.9% on the month to a 15-month high of 4.1 million mt.

The jump came after coal stocks dwindled to 2.7 million mt at the end of December -- the lowest end-of-month volume at the port since January 2011.

Platts Richards Bay FOB 90-day prices softened during the first month of 2013, losing $5.30 to close at a 12-week low of $84.40/mt on January 31, according to Platts data.

Traders attributed the drop to a lack of any major buying from China and India amid abundant South African supply.

Sources noted towards the end of the month that, with Australian weather-related rail issues and upcoming annual contract negotiations between Japanese power utilities and Australian producers lifting Newcastle FOB prices, Chinese buyers had increasing interest in South African cargoes.

However, during the month, the Indian government introduced an 11% import duty on higher calorific coal, which traders said could have an impact on Richards Bay exports to India, with buyers rather opting for lower cv Indonesian coal.

--Jacqueline Holman, jacqueline_holman@platts.com
--Edited by Jeremy Lovell, jeremy_lovell@platts.com

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