Transnet, South Africa's state-owned logistics group, is ti raise up to $1bn in a bond issue by the first quarter of 2010, to fund expansion projects.
Acting chief executive officer Chris Wells said that the ports-to-rail freight group will raise the money in either dollars or Euros, with the aim of switching the debt into Rand at an exchange rate agreed upon with investors, who will be repaid in Rand.
Transnet revenue in the year to November 30 climbed 5.3% to ZAR23.6bn ($3.2bn) compared with a year ago, Mr Wells said. Cost overruns on projects that still needed to be completed between now and 2013 will probably amount to about ZAR4.5bn.
The Transnet ports division includes Durban, Africa's busiest port, with a capacity of 3.7m teu, and the southern tip of Africa box hub at Cape Town, a hub for traffic from the west to the northern hemisphere and to South America and the Far East.
A third of South Africa's major-handling facilities are at Port Elizabeth specializes in cargoes for the vehicle components industries.
Transnet plans to invest in construction of a rail line to the Waterberg coal reserves in South Africa's Mpumalanga province.
The group is also expanding the annual capacity on the iron ore railway lines to 60 (million tonnes) from 47mt and said it would raise the capacity from 72mt by next June.