According to Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi, South Africa’s falling coal prices cost the country R23 billion in lost export revenue in 2014.

Speaking at the IHS Energy South African Coal Exports conference in Cape Town, Ramatlhodi said “We are concerned about the extreme volatility in the coal price, which has a direct effect on the profitability of companies, contribution to the fiscus, as well as implications for employment.”

The price of coal leaving the terminal at South Africa’s port of Richards Bay, the world’s single-largest facility for the fuel, has dropped 47% since the start of 2011 because of a global glut. That surplus in the seaborne variety of the commodity is poised to triple this year, according to Deutsche Bank AG. Anglo American Plc, BHP Billiton and Glencore Plc mine the resource in Africa’s second-biggest economy.

The minister also said that “we need to look at cost saving measures” such as changing the shift system to keep workers employed and raising productivity by companies using more technology.
Source: www.bloomberg.com