South Africa's main coal terminal stops releasing export data

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), the largest in the world, has stopped publishing monthly operational updates detailing shipments of coal because it is "competitive information", its chief executive said on Thursday.

"This information is commercial, it's a competitive environment. RBCT has decided not to release it anymore," Nosipho Siwisa-Damasane told Reuters.

The data that RBCT used to regularly publish included the amount of coal it exported each month and the tonnage of stocks it held - information that traders and other market players watched closely.

Siwisa-Damasane said RBCT remained on track to meet its target of 72 million tonnes of coal exports in 2014, up from the 71 million shipped last year.

RBCT, a major exporter of coal to Europe and Asia, moves the commodity on behalf of South African-based producers such as Exxaro, Glencore (Xetra: A1JAGV - news) and Sasol (Other OTC: SASOF - news) which are also shareholders in terminal.

(1 US dollar = 10.9941 South African rand) (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by Ed Stoddard and William Hardy)