Coalvest

Coalvest (Pty) Ltd is a black empowered brokerage house specialising in back to back trading of energy commodities such as coal. The company began trading in energy commodities such as coal on 1 October 2007 as a division of Grainvest Physicals (Pty) Ltd a brokerage house specilaising in back to back trading of agricultural commodities such as maize, wheat, sunflower and soya beans since 2003. The company Coalvest was officially formed on 1 September 2008 when the management of Grainvest Physicals (Pty) Ltd decided to separate its energy commodities business and house it in a separate independent company.
 
In 2007 the Maize price was hovering around R2000 per ton. The high price made it difficult to trade maize because the margins came under pressure and the high price had an impact on cashflow. The idea was to identify a commodity which was less expensive to trade in while still providing the group with attractive margins. The answer was C.O.A.L!
 
Many of the Grainvest Physicals existing client base already made use of coal in their everyday operations. This made coal a viable option, because Coalvest was in the situation where they could it immediately begin selling coal to existing clients with whom they had build relationships.

As with all new business ventures there was a learning curve. The right coal, the right supplier and transport was critical to the business’s operations and success and not to mention the right pricing structure.
 
Coalvest got a lucky break when they heard that Exxaro (which is the fourth largest producer of coal in South Africa) was opening a new coal mine in Witbank. The mine was looking for new customers and Coalvest was looking for a supplier. After a few meetings Exxaro decided to take a chance and supply Coalvest with high quality coal. The volumes as well as the relationships with new clients constantly grew and none of the parties have ever looked back.  Soon other suppliers such as Nucoal, Black Wattle Colliery and Shanduka coal followed.
  
Coalvest managed to penetrate the market by sourcing additional supplies of coal and consistently growing its client base. Coalvest currently supplies coal to  blue chip clients such as Tongaat Hullet Starch, Foodcorp, Pioneer Foods and National Brands to name a few.
The opportunities for Coalvest in the local market are limitless as it continues to grow from strength to strength.  
 
Coalvest currently has its head office in Pretoria and an agency office in Potchefstroom.