South Africa's Transnet says obtains court order to halt strike

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African logistics firm Transnet said on Friday it had obtained a court order to prevent a strike that a union threatened to launch this week.

The court order compels the National Transport Movement (NTM), which represents about 3 percent of the company's workforce, "to advise its members to stop the strike action with immediate effect," Transnet said in a statement.

Transnet employs about 60,000 people.

NTM officials were not immediately available for comment. The union, vying for company recognition, has not yet launched its strike.

Transnet manages almost all of South Africa's coal shipments and exports.

Coal producers in the country include Anglo American , BHP Billiton , Exxaro , Optimum Coal and Glencore Xstrata .

(Reporting by Sherilee Lakmidas and Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)