Coal miner Seriti plans to cut more than 1,200 jobs

Coal miner Seriti Resources plans to cut 1,241 jobs to contain costs due to lower prices and persistent rail bottlenecks, the company said on Tuesday, a move the country's biggest mineworker union said it would fight.

Privately owned Seriti is a major coal supplier to thermal power stations and also exports some of its output.

The planned job cuts would impact workers at Middelburg mines and Klipspruit South-East pit, Seriti said in response to questions from Reuters. Both operations, which employed a combined 5,212 workers as of March, were acquired from South32 in 2021.

The mines “are not currently commercially sustainable and require material restructuring to improve unit costs and the prospects of future sustainability”, Seriti said.

“These mines continue to be adversely affected by, among others, Transnet under-performance and general market volatility.”

Coal prices have fallen off record highs above $450 per metric ton reached in 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine to current levels of about $100.

Freight rail operator Transnet continues to struggle to provide adequate services due to shortages of locomotives and spares as well as cable theft and vandalism of its infrastructure, affecting coal exporters such as Seriti.

The company said it had on Monday initiated consultations with labour unions under the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it will fight the latest round of job cuts at Seriti.

“The NUM will be embarking on a massive mobilisation to try to stop Seriti Resources from undermining unions by retrenching employees willy-nilly,” it said in a statement.

Reuters