Australian floods continue to hit coal ports

 

 

At Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) in Queensland, it seems that activity has resumed in the port itself. Andrew Garratt of DBCT told Port Strategy, “From the terminal`s perspective we are fully operational.” However, he explains that due to a derailment on Christmas Day DBCT only resumed outloading a week later, so the wet weather impact at the mines “has been greyed by this situation”.

 

 

The Bowen Basin mines that feed Dalrymple Bay have been badly affected by the floods. A number of Australian coal miners including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Anglo American declared force majeure over a number of Bowen coal mines and coal products last week.

 

 

At the Port of Gladstone’s Tanna Coal terminal, coal reserves are now very low since the port has been forced to load only from stockpiles since the floods began. Gladstone’s acting CEO Craig Walker said there were currently 18 vessels at anchor off the port. “We are expecting a further 12 ships over the next 10 days,” Mr Walker said, and explained that the port was waiting for coal shippers to re-schedule waiting vessels with what was left of the available coal.

 

 

Mr Walker added GPC is waiting for the re-establishment of the coal rail haulage system during the coming week.

 

 

Meanwhile Port Alma has been closed due to the flow of floodwaters and siltation. Mr Walker said the facility would be surveyed as soon as practicable to assess the situation and ensure it is safe to reopen the port.

 

 

The Port of Bundaberg remains closed until a further survey of the channel is carried out on Friday. An initial inspection of the navigational aids has been completed and the port has lost a number of beacons and buoys. “The Port of Bundaberg will not be able to reopen until navigational aids are sufficient and the port is deemed safe by Maritime Safety Queensland,” Mr Walker stated.

 

 

It was also noted that the price per tonne of coking coal was being pushed up by around a fifth due to shortages, which will probably impact the price of steel.

(Source:www.portstrategy.com)