【由于理查德灣煤炭碼頭可供出口的煤炭量減少，一個在南非和莫桑比克煤炭碼頭運營商Grindrod集團表示，它打算擴大在理查德灣和馬普托港的經營活動。】

As Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) creaks and groans with reduced coal volumes available for export, another coal terminal operator in South Africa and Mozambique, the Grindrod Group, says it intends expanding operations at Richards Bay and Maputo. The Grindrod terminals act as a safety valve for mines unable to crack the nut of becoming a favoured RBCT exporter, partly due to inadequate rail services by Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) but also because many emerging miners are simply unable to gain access to RBCT. According to Grindrod expansion of its operations is subject to the availability of rail capacity between the mines in South Africa and the two ports of Maputo and Richards Bay, where Grindrod has its coal terminals. The company has recently increased capacity at the Maputo Matola coal and magnetite terminal to between six and seven million tones, of which five million is for coal and two million for magnetite (an iron ore). Grindrod has been reported as saying it intends increasing the Matola terminal capacity to 20 million tonnes, which it hopes to have in service by the end of 2014. The Matola terminal is unable to compete on equal terms with RBCT on account of the limited draught in Maouto Bay, which prevents the use of Capesize vessels.

However, the reduced cost of transporting coal to Maputo from the adjacent Mpumalanga mines provides the Mozambique port with its own advantage. "We believe that the demand to move cargo through the coal terminal will continue to grow and we are gearing up to accommodate this increased demand for capacity from both established and junior miners. We look forward to continued interaction with TFR and CFM, building on our relationship with the Mozambican Government and working together with all stakeholders to optimise trade through the port of Maputo," Alan Olivier, Grindrod’s chief executive said last week. Grindrod’s terminal capacity at Richards Bay, which is distinct from the 91mt capacity RBCT, will see capacity more than double from 1.5 million tonnes a year to 3.2mt annually "within months". Grindrod says it believes it is capable of increasing that capacity by another 10mt within a year of obtaining the required rail capacity. While Grindrod’s further expansion of its coal and iron ore activities remains largely dependent on improved rail services to be provided by TFR, it is ironic that the company owns and operates its own rail services which so far it has been unable to use commercially on TFR tracks.

 來源：Ports & Ships