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Mercedes-Benz questions impact of proposed East London coal terminal
Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) would “be happy” if the coal export terminal project proposed for the East London port did not go ahead as planned, said MBSA CEO and president Dr Martin Zimmermann on Monday.
Speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria, he noted that more consideration should be given to how such a facility could impact on MBSA’s plant, also located in East London.
Zimmermann called for more consultation from Transnet on the matter. He said the pollution from such a terminal could affect the paint work on the C-Class vehicles assembled at MBSA’s East London plant for the local and export markets.
Zimmermann was specifically concerned about the air quality in the paint shop within the plant, which must be kept dust-free.
Transnet confirmed in December that it was moving ahead with a plan to develop coal export capacity at East London.
Work was currently under way at the harbour, South Africa’s only river port, to create capacity to facilitate the export of coal from the middle of 2012. Currently, the harbour handled mainly Mercedes-Benz vehicles, as well as some containers and bulk commodities.
Should the new terminal proceed, the coal would be produced by an entity known as Elitheni Coal, which had secured prospecting rights involving 180 000 ha in the Eastern Cape, near Indwe.
MBSA last year produced a record number of vehicles at its East London plant, assembling just shy of 60 000 C-Class cars, trucks and buses, up from 57 500 units in 2010.
MBSA is to produce the new C-Class model from 2014, in a R2-billion investment which would “almost double capacity” for the passenger car.
Source - Engineering News
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