South Africa's thermal coal exporter Thungela Resources expects its annual profit to double, it said on Thursday.
The company made this estimate in light of the ongoing increase in coal demand worldwide and the resulting increase in coal prices.
In a trading update, Thungela said its headline earnings per share - a measure of profit particularly common in South Africa - constituted 66.57 rand ($3.88) in December 2021 and is anticipated to double and reach at least 131 rand ($7.65) in December 2022.
The company explained the rise in coal demand by the disruption of energy supply to Europe, which occurred due to sanctions it imposed on Russia following the beginning of its military operation in Ukraine.
According to Thungela, coal prices averaged $276.57 per tonne for the year to date, compared to $124.11 per tonne last year.
However, Thungela also listed a number of problems holding back the company's profits, such as insufficiency of locomotives, thefts and vandalism.
"Poor rail performance impacted our ability to move coal to port, with a concomitant impact on export sales," Thungela said.
The company also reiterated the impact of a recent strike carried out by its personnel demanding wage increases in accordance to Africa's year-on-year inflation rate.
"The poor performance was further exacerbated by a 12-day strike by Transnet employees in October 2022, as well as a severe derailment on the coal corridor in early November which took 10 days to clear," it stated.
Among the reasons for the energy crisis that the world is currently facing are sanctions that the West imposed on Russia - a large energy exporter - in response to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine which was launched to protect the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk from Kiev's attacks.
Nowadays, Russian energy supplies are limited not only by sanctions but also by acts of terrorism that occurred in September, when explosions occurred on the Nord Stream pipeline, which was used to transport natural gas from Russia to Europe.
Europe, cut off from Russian fossil fuels, has begun to abandon its principles for the transition to clean energy sources and increased coal consumption, which causes its prices to rise globally.