According to Mining Weekly,Transnet chief executive officer Brian Molefe said the 70Mt target was consistent with the company’s 2011-12 financial year targets.
Transnet delivered 62.2Mt of coal in the previous financial, while RBCT exported more than 65.5Mt of coal in 2011.
The announcement comes just days before Transnet also unveiled plans to co-develop a 16-17 billion rand railway project between Lothair, in South Africa, and Sidvokodvo, in Swaziland.
According to the news service, the project would be a joint venture with Swazi Rail and is expected to have an initial capacity of 15Mtpa.
The 146km rail line will be designed to divert general freight being moved on the Ermelo-Richards Bay line through Swaziland, increasing South Africa’s coal capacity from Mpumalanga to RBCT.
Construction on the line is expected in 2013, with hopes of opening up new coal export capacity from South Africa and possibly Botswana.
