The Port of Saldanha bulk iron-ore
handling facility expansion project is ahead of schedule and expected to be completed by the end of 2011.
According to Transnet’s Ben Khonyane, Phase 1B of the project, which involved the
expansion of throughput capacity at the facility to 47-million tons a year, has been completed and Transnet is now under way with the next phase of the project.
“Phase 1C is under way to increase throughput capacity of iron-ore from 47-million tons a year to 58-million tons a year,” elaborates Khonyane.
This third section of the expansion project is essentially focused on equipment optimisation. The project involves the optimisation of chutes and conveyors, the upgrade of the ship loader conveyor, and the installation of dual ship loading motors.
Khonyane tells Mining Weekly that the value of this project is estimated between R400-million and R500-million.
Significantly, Khonyane added that Transnet will not have to purchase any new assets in order to complete this phase of the capacity expansion project.
While this phase of the project is only
expected to be completed by the end of 2011, Khonyane states that Transnet is already
investigating the possibility of further expanding the throughput capacity beyond 58-million tons a year.
Khonyane states that Transnet is under way with a feasibility study to determine the viability
of a possible Phase 2 expansion, which would enable the increase of throughput capacity to 76-million tons a year in the first phase and 93-
million tons in the second phase of the project.
Transnet is currently in discussions with Kumba Iron Ore and Assmang to determine the necessity of further expanding the bulk terminals throughput capacity.
It is expected that Transnet will make a
decision on this project by the end of 2010.
The Port of Saldanha bulk iron-ore
handling facility is the only dedicated iron-ore export facility in South Africa.
While the capacity expansion project is well under way, Khonyane elaborates that the iron-ore terminal has been experiencing increased export volumes in recent months.
“Since January, we have experienced record export iron-ore volumes averaging at four-million tons a month,” states Khonayne.
“This is much more than expected owing to the fact that international demand for iron-ore was initially affected by the global economic crisis in the fourth quarter of last year.”
However, since the beginning of the year there has been sustained international
demand for South Africa’s iron-ore.
“We have never seen volumes of four-million tons a month before,” enthuses Khonyane.
“It has been sustained up to July and we have confirmed orders for August of between 4,2-million and 4,5-million tons.”
According to Khonyane, the increased
export volumes are being driven by strong Chinese demand for iron-ore.
Currently, between 70 % and 80% of South African iron-ore exports are destined for China and it has been necessary to divert European exports to meet the growing Chinese demand.
Source: Mining Weekly
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