Forget the shiny gold, it’s the gritty coal that is a worry. South Africa is a big exporter of steam coal, used in power stations worldwide, and as the lights flickered last Friday in Johannesburg, Anglo Coal began to evacuate workers from its export collieries for safety reasons.

In response, the price of coal for loading at Richards Bay, South Africa’s big export terminal, surged on Monday, rising $6 to $104 per tonne.

Stocks at Richards Bay were already low due to rising demand and export logjams at Newcastle, its Australian rival port. The price of imported coal in Europe has doubled over the past year to $129 per tonne, a reflection of the global energy squeeze and soaring cost of shipping.

In China, the Government yesterday banned coal exports for two months as the country coped with a severe power crisis and coal shortage. China normally exports coal but a shortage has forced electricity generators to shut down 20 gigawatts — some 4 per cent of China’s coal-generated power fleet.

In South Africa, Eskom called in the country’s coal bosses for emergency talks. The state utility is expected to ask the coal firms to make up any shortfalls in domestic coal with export stocks.

Coal is a fuel in ascendancy. Only five years ago the European price was $35 per tonne, less than a third its current value, and even at today’s prices the fuel is cheaper than natural gas. It provides half of the power generated in Germany.

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