Richards Bay Coal Terminal
South Africa
Thermal coal. The physical basis of the API4 index. Panamax and Capesize.
Supply chain
Logistics and trade structure
Most commodity deals do not fail on price. They fail because nobody checked whether the seller could get the material to a port, or because the assay clause was vague, or because the payment instrument protected one side only. This is the sequence we work through on every transaction, and why.
Origin
Sourcing and verification
Before anything is circulated we establish who holds title to the material, what tonnage is genuinely uncommitted and whether the seller has the rail allocation, terminal entitlement or port services agreement needed to actually deliver. In South African coal, terminal access is the binding constraint far more often than tonnes at the mine. In manganese and chrome it is the leg between mine gate and port. An offer without that leg secured is not an offer.
Validation
Independent assay and survey
Grade is determined by an independent inspection body, SGS, Intertek or Control Union depending on the product, named in the contract along with the point at which determination is final. Where the value at risk justifies it we assay at loading and again on discharge. Grade premiums and penalties are tabled in the contract as a schedule, so that a result above or below the base grade produces an arithmetic answer rather than an argument.
Structure
Contracting and payment security
Multi party chains are papered back to back. The downstream contract mirrors the structure of the upstream contract but is reissued on the correct party's letterhead with that party's own details, so each leg stands on its own. Payment security is a drawdownable escrow, sized to a defined period of offtake and revolving, which lets the seller draw against delivery documents with a balance released after testing. Instruments that block seller drawdown are not accepted as a substitute.
Transport
Routing and vessel
Route selection follows the buyer's shipping window rather than habit. South African bulk exports run through Richards Bay, Maputo, Coega, Port Elizabeth, Saldanha and Durban. Zimbabwean material clears at Beitbridge or Chirundu and routes to Beira, Maputo or Durban. Copperbelt metal runs the Dar es Salaam corridor, Beira or Durban. Vessel size follows the terminal: Panamax and Capesize at Richards Bay, Supramax and small Panamax at Maputo.
Settlement
Documents, title and commission
Title transfers against payment release on documented terms. Where the company acts as an introducing or structuring intermediary rather than as principal, the commission is a stated line in the contract next to the price or commission clause, naming the company, rather than a figure absorbed into the price. Where we act as paymaster to a downstream broker, payment flows only once funds have been received, and that is written into the agreement rather than implied.
Routes
The ports we work.
Route choice is driven by terminal access, vessel size and the buyer's laycan, not by preference.
Maputo Port
Mozambique
Coal and chrome. Serves sellers without RBCT entitlement. Supramax and small Panamax.
Coega and Port Elizabeth
South Africa
Manganese ore and iron ore out of the Northern Cape.
Durban
South Africa
Chrome, copper and general bulk. Deepest vessel availability in the region.
Beira
Mozambique
Zimbabwean chrome and southern Copperbelt metal.
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
Shortest run from the Copperbelt to an Indian Ocean port.
Questions
Frequently asked
Which ports do you export through?
Richards Bay and Durban for coal and general bulk, Maputo for coal and chrome where a seller has no Richards Bay entitlement, Coega and Port Elizabeth for manganese and iron ore, Beira for Zimbabwean material, and Dar es Salaam for Copperbelt metal.
What Incoterms do you trade on?
Incoterms 2020 throughout. FOT at the wash plant and DAP inland for chrome, FCA at origin for copper, FOB at the load port for coal, manganese, iron ore and grain, with CFR and CIF available by arrangement.
What payment security do you require?
A drawdownable escrow that permits the seller to draw against delivery documents, sized to a defined period of offtake and revolving. Bank guarantees, letters of credit or standby instruments that block seller drawdown are not accepted in place of it. Seaborne cargoes are commonly done against a confirmed letter of credit payable on arrival.
Who inspects the cargo?
An independent body named in the contract, ordinarily SGS or Intertek for metals and bulks and SGS, Intertek or Control Union for agricultural cargoes, with the point of final determination stated.
Next step
Have a cargo that needs structuring?
Send us what you have: the origin, the tonnage, the counterparties and where it needs to land. We will tell you where the chain is weak before you sign anything.