Sept 17 (Askume) – South African coal miner Seriti Resources said on Tuesday it planned to cut 1,241 jobs to control costs amid falling prices and persistent rail disruptions, a move the country’s biggest miners union said it would oppose.
Privately owned Seriti is the main coal supplier to South Africa’s thermal power plants and exports part of its output.
Seriti said in response to questions from Askume that the planned job cuts would affect workers at its Middelburg mine and Klipspruit South-East pit. The two companies, both acquired from South32 (S32.AX) in 2021, had a total of 5,212 employees as of March 2024.
The mines are “not currently commercially sustainable and require material restructuring to improve unit costs and future sustainability prospects”.
“These mines are being adversely affected by factors such as Transnet’s poor performance and general market volatility,” Seriti said.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, coal prices have fallen from record highs above $450 per tonne in 2022 to current levels of around $100.
South African freight rail operator Transnet is struggling to provide adequate services due to a shortage of locomotives and spare parts, as well as cable theft and infrastructure damage, affecting coal exporters such as Seriti.
The company said on Monday it had begun consultations with unions under the South African Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), the statutory body that mediates and certifies the outcome of industrial disputes.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it would oppose the latest round of job cuts at Seriti.
“National unions will launch a massive mobilisation to stop Seriti Resources from destroying the union through arbitrary layoffs,” the union said in a statement.
