COAL shipments from Australia, the world's No 2 exporter of the fuel, rose in April as key mining regions in the country's east recovered from torrential rains that earlier this year disrupted some mining operations and damaged infrastructure.
Exports from major Australian coal terminals increased 5% during the month to 27.55 million tonnes, from around 26.24 million tonnes in March, figures compiled by The Wall Street Journal showed today.
Shipments from Queensland state's Abbot Point, Australia's most northerly coal port, were up 30% on the month at 1.80 million tons, while exports from Newcastle, the nation's largest coal export port, located in New South Wales state, rose 7.6% to 11.95 million tonnes.
Despite the monthly rise, throughput at the country's largest coal ports was down 15% compared with December, prior to the rain damage, when exports peaked at 32.43 million tonnes.
Australian coal shipments fell sharply during the first few months of 2013 after the remnants of a tropical cyclone battered Queensland, the country's largest coal-producing state. Some rail links were shut for parts of February and March after severe flooding from what was the state's heaviest rainfall in two years and major producers like Rio Tinto and Yancoal Australia declared force majeure on contracts they weren't able to fulfil.
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Australia is the world's largest exporter of coking coal, used in steelmaking, and the second-largest shipper of thermal coal, used for electricity generation. The country accounts for more than half of all coking coal traded by sea and one-fifth of seaborne thermal coal.
The Australian government has forecast coal exports will reach nearly 340 million tons, valued at more than $40.59 billion, in the fiscal year through June. Official coal export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for April are due to be released on Thursday.
Exports from Australia were up from a year earlier, the survey data showed, with increased capacity at ports like Newcastle helping drive up volumes. Shipments were 6.9% higher in April compared with the same month a year earlier, when they stood at 25.78 million tonnes, according to the figures.
Coal exports from the resource-rich country have been rising despite a sharp fall in prices due to slowing demand from important buyers like Japan, South Korea and China.
Australia exports more than 80% of its coal output, and miners have continued to produce high volumes of the raw material - despite a significant squeeze on margins - after signing so-called "take or pay" contracts with rail and port operators.
Coal producers agreed to long-term deals to lock in space at export terminals when the coal industry was booming, but it means they would now need to pay for access even if they were to cut production.
Mining companies such as Glencore Xstrata and Yancoal have tried to sell excess port capacity, but Yancoal said it had so far had little luck attracting buyers.
Source:-www.theaustralian.com.au
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