Australia: Newcastle coal exports fall 21.5%

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Mar 2009

Coal exports from Australia's Newcastle port, the world's largest coal export terminal, fell 21.5 per cent to a five-week low in the past week, while the number of coal ships entering the port also fell due to maintenance work. Exports from the eastern coast port, which ships mostly thermal coal used in power generation, fell to 1.45 million tonnes in the week to March 30, port data showed on Monday.
Trade sources said the sharp drop in exports was largely a result of a planned four-day closure of the rail network last week for repairs, which reduced transport capacity and led to a rise in waiting times.
The number of coal ship arrivals fell to a nine-month low of just 14 vessels, while waiting time for vessels scheduled to load coal rose to seven days.
There are 16 vessels off the port waiting to load 1.44 million tonnes of coal.
About 80 per cent of the coal shipped through the port is thermal coal used mainly by power stations. Companies shipping through the Newcastle port include Xstrata plc, Coal & Allied Industries Ltd, majority-owned by Rio Tinto Ltd and Centennial Coal Ltd.

Source: Reuters