Bulk export handling at port level illustrates how terminal operations shape mineral flow from mine to ship.
Freight rail capacity remains a critical part of easing logistics bottlenecks across South Africa’s mineral export chain.
underperformance has already cut into coal and iron ore exports, cost mineral exporters billions of rand in lost revenue, and forced some producers to curb output. Mining contributed 5.8% of South Africa’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, equal to about R439.2 billion. Mineral ores and related products accounted for about 52% of merchandise export value, while mining contributed more than R100 billion
reached 23.4 million tonnes in 2025, and about 9 million tonnes moved by truck. That is equivalent to more than 826 trucks a day and carries a cost premium of about 40% compared with rail. The analytical point is straightforward. South Africa is still moving export volume, but too much of that volume is using a higher-cost road route because rail capacity has not been sufficient. The same imbalance is now visible in manganese.
to the national fiscus through taxes, royalties and value-added tax (VAT). Those figures explain why freight underperformance is not only a mining-sector problem. It affects export receipts, tax revenue, and the reliability with which cargo reaches overseas buyers. Rail reform has started: The transport mix is the next scorecard Eleven private train operators have
Transnet plans to invest ZAR 127 billion over five years to modernise rail lines and upgrade ports, after allocating R24 billion to infrastructure in the previous financial year and budgeting R25 billion for the current year. EBC sees that programme
Mineral ores and related products accounted for about 52% of merchandise export value, while mining contributed more than R100 billion to the national fiscus through taxes, royalties and value-added tax (VAT).
as a practical scorecard rather than a backdrop detail. The most useful signs of progress are concrete:
higher rail freight volumes, stronger port throughput, and a lower share of manganese ore moving by truck. Those are the numbers that would show whether South Africa is improving the full export route from mine to vessel rather than adding capacity at
advanced to the next stage across 41 routes and six corridors on South Africa’s state-owned freight rail network. The government expects those
only one point along it. “Ngqura only becomes economically meaningful if it changes the transport mix” Precious added. “If rail access reform, port upgrades, and capital spending start lifting freight volumes and reducing truck haulage, South Africa can convert mineral strength into export earnings more efficiently. If that shift does not happen, the country risks adding terminal capacity at the coast whilst the inland bottleneck continues to cap volumes and raise costs.” n
operators to add 20 million tonnes of freight capacity a year from the 2026/27 financial year and support a national target of moving 250 million tonnes a year by rail by 2029. EBC says that reform matters because it is meant to increase train movements on existing lines, not simply add another policy commitment to a system still rebuilding lost capacity. Chrome shows why the transport mix is the right measure to watch, with industry data indicating chrome ore exports
JUNE 2026 | www.modernminingmagazine.co.za MODERN MINING 11
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker