South Africa’s April bulk exports soared by 12.2% year-on-year to 14.351 million tons (Mt). The first four months’ increase was 13.1 % to 62.842 Mt. If this is multiplied by three to get to an annual total, then South Africa could export 188.5 Mt in bulk commodities.
Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) data showed that the recent peak was 173.4 Mt achieved in 2019. The first four months’ growth shows that the record set in 2019 could easily be beaten in 2026.
So where will this growth come from?
The two main bulk export harbours are Richards Bay, where the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) is located and therefore handles mostly coal. The other main port is Saldanha Bay, which is at the end of the Sishen-Saldanha railway and mostly exports iron ore.
The other ports such as Cape Town, Durban, East London, Ngqura, and Port Elizabeth do not concentrate on bulk exports. They handle containers and occasional bulk exports such as coal, manganese, and sugar.
RBCT has a design capacity of 91 Mt per year, while its peak exports were 76.5 Mt in 2017. Therefore most of the increased tonnage will come from this port. In the first four months, the increase was 8.4%.
Saldanha did better with a 13.2% gain. Ngqura is still under-utilised. If manganese exports can be increased substantially, then this would be a viable avenue for growth. This seems to be the case in April. Growth from the other ports was a substantial 29.2% year-on-year increase in the first four months.
The fact that April bulk exports soared by 12.2% shows how the mining industry is recovering.
Liquid bulk imports
The concern among economists is the impact of the Middle East war on liquid bulk imports such as crude oil and petrochemical products like diesel.
Already in February, South Africa has switched its crude oil imports from Oman, which was the fifth largest import source by value in January, to Nigeria. It then switched back to Oman in March.
The TNPA data shows that bulk liquid imports grew to 2 740 045 tons in March from 2 258 755 tons in February. It then eased to 1 970 388 tons in April. Nevertheless, the March 2026 imports are 13.8% less than the 3 177 562 tons imported in March 2025. The April 2026 imports are 14.5% less than the 2 305 306 tons imported in April 2025.
