India, China eager for Botswana coal

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Tuesday March 26, 2013 00:00

 

Yesterday, Botswana Chamber of Mines CEO, Charles Siwawa said stakeholders from the two Asian giants recently made enquiries about assisting Botswana to develop its export quality thermal coal resources. 'Two weeks ago, I was in India where I gave a presentation about Botswana coal,' Siwawa told delegates at a coal conference. 'After the conference, delegates were asking how they could help to get the coal out.

They were not saying they want the coal tomorrow, they were saying they want it yesterday and lots of it. I asked myself 'what are we still waiting for' because we also know that the Chinese want our coal as well.'While landlocked Botswana has an estimated 212 billion tonnes of coal, none has been commercially exported outside the continent due to the absence of cost effective export routes to ports. Government is presently finalising studies on routes through Namibia to the west and Mozambique to the east, while South Africa has offered a limited route through Durban.'Both (east and west) routes have their own advantages and disadvantages. We believe there are enough resources to support both coal export routes and we also welcome Transnet (South Africa)'s efforts to link with Botswana as that will give us another route to the coast,' Siwawa said.

A 2011 study indicated that most of Botswana's thermal coal is well within the quality range of both India and Chinese requirements and could also be accepted into European markets.Siwawa said urgency is necessary in coal development plans as other producers like Indonesia and Australia are also competing for the Indian market.While the debate over coal export routes is expected to be resolved later this year through government's finalisation of state-to-state agreements, key studies and appointing transaction advisers, all available routes will receive political support to accommodate the private sector.