is crumbling. Volumes transported on its network have declined by nearly a third over the past five years because of issues that include poor management and idle locomotives, cable theft and aging tracks. Miners have no choice but to use trucks to cash in on record demand.
South Africa’s coal industry is the world’s fifth largest. In all, about 15 million tons of coal last year arrived at ports by road and another 50 million tons by train, earning its miners R227 billion after prices reached a record high of $450 per ton. That boosted South Africa’s economy – and for the first time, coal came close to rivalling platinum as the country’s most valuable export.
"It’s more costly and it affects the roads. It creates accidents. It’s bad for the country," said Vuslat Bayoglu, managing director at coal miner Menar, of using trucks at a conference in July. Coal producers are funding security operations for the rail lines and are eager for private companies to be allowed to run their own trains.