
The diversified Australian headquartered mining company said the sales declined on the lower production volumes, planned rail network maintenance and weather-related port congestion at Richards Bay Coal Terminal.
It said SAEC saleable production eased 6 percent to 6.3 million tons on lower equipment availability at Klipspruit as it prepared for the upcoming wet season impacting volumes.
“Domestic sales benefited from additional volumes of a lower quality stockpiled product that had been directed to the seaborne market in the prior quarter,” the company said. Coal business in South Africa has been loss making, recording a $504m impairment in the financial year ended June.
In August, South32 said it had closed the door on coal after choosing Seriti Resources, headed by former Optimum Coal chief executive Mike Teke as its preferred bidder for the assets. South32 chief executive Graham Kerr said yesterday that the company remained on track to provide further guidance for the fourth quarter.