(Bloomberg) -- South African coal exporter Thungela Resources Ltd. said first-half profit slumped almost 60% due to lower prices and rail disruptions.
Earnings through June fell to 1.3 billion rand ($73 million), from 3.1 billion a year earlier, the Johannesburg- and London-listed thermal coal producer said on Monday. That was mainly because the realized price of coal shipped from its South African mines dropped by almost a fifth.
The performance of South Africa’s main export line — run by state-owned Transnet SOC Ltd — deteriorated further, after volumes declined to the lowest in three decades last year. Thungela, spun off from Anglo American Plc in 2021, only expects to see an improvement in rail performance from next year.
Thungela produced 6.2 million tons of coal in South Africa and 1.9 million tons from the Ensham mine in Australia, which it acquired last year as its first overseas asset. Ensham’s full-year guidance was increased by about 10% to 3.5 million to 3.8 million tons.
The company’s decision to diversify beyond South Africa’s borders “is vindicated here,” Thungela Chief Executive Officer July Ndlovu told reporters on Monday.
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