VZCZCXRO5271
RR RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHJO #0335/01 2511506
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081506Z SEP 06
FM AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5272
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 1928

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JOHANNESBURG 000335 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PLS PASS USAID, USGS 
USDOC FOR 4510/ITA/MAC/AME/OA/DIEMOND 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EMIN ENRG ECON SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICAN COAL INDUSTRY: COAL IN THE GLOBAL SETTING, 
PART I 
 
JOHANNESBU 00000335  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Introduction:  This is the first of a four-part cable 
dealing with coal and the important role it plays in the South 
African economy.  Part 1 provides a background to coal, relative 
to other energy sources, and South Africa's position in the 
global coal market place.  End Introduction. 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
¶2. (U) South Africa has an experienced and efficient coal 
industrial complex and export industry.  Its assets include a 
substantial infrastructure in place, large coal reserves and 
resources, a domestic market for more than 70% of production, 
and a solid reputation as a reliable exporter of consistently 
good quality low sulfur coal.  Coal makes a major contribution 
to the country's economic and industrial development and has 
enabled South Africa to become almost self-sufficient in energy. 
 Crude oil is imported and feeds four internationally-owned 
refineries with a combined capacity of 510,000 barrels per day. 
 
¶3. (U) Coal provides 25% of the country's liquid fuel needs via 
the conversion of coal to liquid fuels, 92% of electricity 
production, a proportion of steel's coking coal, and most of the 
requirements of the metallurgical industry and domestic sectors. 
 Coal has enabled utility Eskom to provide the lowest cost 
electricity in the world, with South African costs estimated to 
be 36% less than the next cheapest producer Canada.  This, in 
turn, has allowed for the growth of world-class competitive 
energy-intensive industries including smelters, refineries and 
downstream manufacturers of base metals, synthetic fuels and 
chemicals, steel, stainless steel, ferro-alloys, aluminum and 
aluminum products, and titanium slag and dioxide powders. 
 
¶4. (U) The outlook for growth in the coal sector is currently 
very positive.  The industry and the SAG are gearing up 
production and infrastructure, respectively, to increase exports 
to Europe, Africa and the Middle East by some twenty million 
tons per year by 2012.  Electricity utility Eskom is committed 
to nearly doubling capacity by 2022, at an annual rate of 
1,500-2,000 MW, most of which will come from coal-fired plants. 
The oil-from-coal producer Sasol is under pressure to double 
synfuel production and will shortly enter into negotiations with 
the SAG on the issue.  By 2015, the coal industry could be 
called on to produce an additional 80 million to 100 million 
tons of coal per year unless more use is made of nuclear, 
natural gas and renewable energy sources.  Given its dependence 
on oil imports, the only viable alternative to coal for South 
Africa appears to be nuclear energy.  End Summary. 
 
Introduction to Coal 
-------------------- 
¶5. (U) Coal has critically important uses that are fundamental 
to human comfort and industrial activity - some 70% of global 
steel production and 40% of electricity generation depend on 
coal.  Coal represents a concentrated source of energy that is 
used in its raw state or upgraded and transformed into higher 
value solids, liquids and gases that provide convenient energy, 
fuel and carbon-based products.  Methane gas (coal-bed methane 
or CBM) is embedded in most coals and can in some instances be 
tapped and used as a commercial energy source.  Coal, unlike 
oil, gas and most metallic mineral deposits, is abundant and 
widely distributed.  It is mined in over 50 countries and used 
in significant quantities in over 70 countries. 
 
¶6. (U) Burning coal, however, can have harmful health and 
environmental impacts through the release of undesireable waste 
products and trace elements.  Some, such as ash, are relatively 
inert and can be turned into a useful resource while others are 
toxic to humans and animals and damaging to the environment. 
"Best practice" methods and technologies can mitigate or 
eliminate most of the "negative" by-products (at a cost), but an 
economically viable and socially acceptable solution for the 
capture and disposal of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) has yet to be 
demonstrated.  Carbon sequestration, though currently expensive, 
has been tried with reasonable success in the Middle East and by 
Norway's Statoil company which has pumped CO2 under the North 
Sea bed since 1996. 
 
Types of Coal 
------------- 
¶7. (U) Coals are classified based on quality (rank), which is a 
product of a number of factors including geological age and 
depositional history.  The highest rank coals, referred to as 
hard or black coals, are the anthracites and bituminous coals. 
Anthracite is relatively difficult to ignite but has specific 
domestic and industrial uses and give off little smoke.  The 
bituminous coals include coking coals (for steel-making), 
metallurgical coals (used in metallurgical and chemical plants), 
 
JOHANNESBU 00000335  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
and thermal coals (used to generate electricity). 
 
¶8. (U) Soft coals are of younger geological age and are 
categorized as sub-bituminous (transitional between hard and 
soft coals) and lignites or brown coals.  They have higher water 
and ash and lower heat contents.  Soft coals are generally used 
for electricity generation and space heating where higher rank 
coals are not available.  Finally, the earliest manifestation of 
coal is peat.  Peat is a loosely compacted biomass of very young 
geological age and is an important fuel in many countries, 
including Ireland and the former Soviet Union.  South Africa 
hosts predominantly hard coals, while hard and soft coals are 
mined in the EU, North America and Oceania. 
 
Global Coal 
----------- 
¶9. (U) According to the 2006 BP Annual Energy Report, coal is 
the world's fastest-growing energy source, driven by demand from 
China.  China consumes nearly 37% of the world's coal supply and 
is currently also the biggest producer and consumer of coal. 
Coal contributes 25% to the global primary energy mix and 
generates 40% of global electricity.  Fossil fuels (coal, oil 
and gas) provide more than 80% of the world's commercial energy. 
 
 
¶10. (U) Coal is the most abundant remaining source of fossil 
fuel and accounts for about 64% of the total reserve, with oil 
and gas accounting for about 18% each.  The current high prices 
of oil and gas, their relatively limited geographical 
distribution and reserves, and threats to the security of Middle 
East supply make coal an increasingly secure and attractive 
option for energy and fuel - assuming that the issue of CO2 
emissions can be economically resolved.  A number of countries 
with significant coal resources, including the United States, 
China, India and Australia, are looking to apply South Africa's 
coal-to-liquid (CTL) technology to supplement their oil 
supplies. 
 
¶11. (U) In 2005, global hard coal production reached 4,630 
million tons with soft coal adding another 900 million tons. 
Trade in hard coals was 755 million tons, of which seaborne 
trade was 685 million tons.  The global market for traded 
thermal coal was 501 million tons, up 6% from 2004 and dominated 
by supply from Indonesia (115 million tons) and Australia (113 
million tons).  Demand for thermal coal was dominated by the 
Asia-Pacific region where Japan, Taiwan and South Korea together 
imported over 200 million tons.  The demand for coking coal 
continued to increase and the global market is estimated at over 
200 million tons per year.  Global imports amounted to 840 
million tons with EU taking 530 million tons, the America's 110 
million tons and Asia 200 million tons. 
 
¶12. (U) In 2005, the biggest private coal producers were: 
Peabody Energy (US) 206 million tons; Rio Tinto (UK) 157 million 
tons; BHP-Billiton (Australia) 119 million tons; Arch Coal (US) 
112 million tons; Anglo American/Kumba (South Africa) 109 
million tons; Siberian Coal Energy (Russia) 76 million tons; and 
Xstrata (Swiss) 60 million tons.  International thermal coal 
trade was dominated by BHP-Billiton, Anglo American, Xstrata 
(all sourced coal from their international and South African 
operations), and PT Bumi Resources of Indonesia.  Xstrata was 
the largest thermal coal exporter with sales of some 45 million 
tons, while BHP-B was the largest exporter of coking coal at 35 
million tons. 
 
South Africa's Position in the Thermal Coal Market 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶13. (U) In 2005, South Africa ranked third in seaborne exports 
of thermal coal, fourth in overall exports, fifth in production 
and sixth in total reserves.  Prior to 2001, South Africa was 
the world's second largest exporter but was overtaken by both 
Indonesia and China.  Columbia has plans to significantly 
increase its share of the export market. 
 
¶14. (U) In 2005, hard coal production and exports in millions of 
tons (Mt) and reserves in billions of tons (Bt) were: 
 
                Production     Exports       Reserves 
               Mt   %  Rank  Mt   %  Rank   Bt   %  Rank 
China       1,965  42   1    87  12   3     62  13   3 
USA           933  20   2    43   6   7    111  23   1 
India         373   8   3     2