Verified
Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) is one of the largest coal export terminals in the world, established in 1976 on the KwaZulu-Natal coast at Richards Bay. RBCT has expanded over the decades to a design capacity of 91 million tonnes a year and exported more than 57 million tonnes of coal in 2025, according to a provider record checked in August 2026.
- Registered name
- Richards Bay Coal Terminal (Pty) Ltd
- Type
- Private company (coal export terminal, owned by coal producers)
- Fields funded
- BCom accounting, computer science or IT, human resources, and electrical and mechanical engineering
- Website
- rbct.co.za
- spillay@rbct.co.za
Owned by the miners that use it
The coal mining companies that export through RBCT jointly own the terminal. Major shareholders include Anglo American, Glencore and South32, and the largest shareholders each appoint a director to RBCT’s board. RBCT is the single export gateway for a large share of South Africa’s export coal.
From mine to ship
Most coal reaches RBCT by train along the dedicated heavy-haul coal line that runs from the Mpumalanga coalfields to Richards Bay, operated by Transnet Freight Rail. At the terminal, trains are unloaded, coal is stacked and reclaimed in huge stockyards, and conveyors load bulk carriers for markets overseas. In recent years, locomotive shortages, cable theft and derailments on the rail line have kept exports well below RBCT’s capacity, showing how closely the terminal depends on reliable rail.
Running a highly mechanised, 24-hour bulk-handling operation requires electrical and mechanical engineers, artisans and technicians, as well as finance, IT and human resources staff.
Bursaries, trainees and apprentices
RBCT runs bursary, trainee and apprenticeship programmes for electrical and mechanical engineering qualifications, structured to feed candidates into junior and management roles at the terminal. RBCT says these programmes have materially changed the demographics of its skilled and management workforce over time. RBCT’s public material does not spell out how many years a bursar must work at the terminal, so ask RBCT before signing.
RBCT’s community bursary fund also supports students in BCom accounting, computer science or IT, and human resources, with preference for residents of the King Cetshwayo District Municipality. The last published round, for 2024, opened in February and closed on 15 March 2024, funding students for the same academic year.
How to research RBCT
RBCT’s website did not respond when BursariesAfrica checked on 15 September 2026, so revisit it early in 2027 and email the bursary contact to ask whether the community bursary will run. Follow news about coal export volumes and the rail line, and ask whether TVET students can join RBCT’s apprenticeships.
Richards Bay students can also see the Richards Bay IDZ bursary and the Mhlathuze Water Bursary.
