SA's bulk export volumes surged by 18.6% year on year in February to 14.9-million tonnes after falling by 6.5% year on year in January to 13.5-million tonnes, following a 2.8% drop in 2016 to 163.3-million tonnes, data from the Transnet National Ports Authority showed on Wednesday. Policy uncertainty and logistics constraints meant that SA lost out on the 2003 to 2008 commodity price boom with annual bulk exports increasing by a mere 2.8-million tonnes between those years. Since then there has been a marked turnaround due to better policy co-ordination between mining companies and state-owned Transnet, with volumes improving by 45% or 52.3-million tonnes between 2008 and 2015. Low commodity prices in 2016, however, constrained supply. A jump in commodity prices since US President Donald Trump’s election in November may result in a boost in bulk exports in 2017, as bulk exports grew by 9.5% year on year in November, after a 0.7%year-on-year drop in October. In December, bulk export v...
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