India is next critical player: S African coal giant Exxaro

India is the next critical player for South African coal mining giant Exxaro as it seeks to expand its markets, hoping to export as much as 15 million tonnes of coal to India this year.
Exxaro sees the reduction of India's coal imports from Indonesia as an opportunity to increase business with India.
"(The Indian market is) not sourcing as much coal from Indonesia as they used to because of the price impact and the tax in place by the government of India, so they prefer to take South African coal due to quality and the ash level," Exxaro's executive head of carbon operations Nombasa Tsengwa told the weekly Sunday Times.

CEO-designate of Exxaro, Mxolosi Mgojo said this was in line with the company's new strategy of market diversification and market optimisation rather than relying on a dependence on one or two main big customer.
"We have to actively go and pursue new markets with new products," Mgojo said, adding that Exxaro's diversification plans provided some protection from China's low demand for coal, which had left some of its competitors struggling because of their reliance on China.
Exxaro hopes to export 15 million tonnes of coal to India this year, Tsengwa said.

Exxaros' move follows comments at a coal conference in Cape Town last month by Arun Maheshwari, senior vice president commercial for Indian firm JSW Steel, that coal exports from South Africa to India were "definitely on a growth path".

South African mining companies' coal exports to India in 2015 reached a record 75.4 million tonnes, up from 30 million tonnes in 2014 in the wake of the India's reduced reliance on Indonesian coal.
Exxaro remained confident about its future, despite the global downturn which has seen some mining competitors, such as Anglo-American, selling its coal assets amid global oversupply and the price of coal being at a seven-year low.
Exxaro said it had also developed a strong relationship with its Pakistani customers in recent years in support of their plans to build cement plants in the country.