Newcastle coal vessel queue lengthens to record 69 ships
The queue of ships waiting to load coal at Newcastle, Australia, the world's biggest coal-export harbour, increased to a record 69, lengthening delays and raising costs for producers and buyers of the fuel.
The number of ships queuing outside the port in New South Wales state as of early Monday was up from 67 a week earlier, according to data on Newcastle Port Corp's website.
Ships waited an average of more than 21 days to load coal last week, compared with 0.14 days for general cargo ships, it said.
Australian shipments of thermal coal have risen after China cut exports to meet increasing domestic demand.
Almost 90 per cent of coal shipped through Newcastle last year was thermal coal produced in the Hunter Valley by mining companies such as Rio Tinto Group, BHP Billiton Ltd and Xstrata plc.
The coal ship queue compares with an average of 23 in 2006.
Newcastle Port shipped 1.57 million metric tons of coal in the week ended 7 am on Monday, taking the volume shipped in March so far to 1.24 million tons. Newcastle Port is budgeting shipments of 6.7 million tons for the whole of March.
Hunter Valley coal miners last month voted to re-introduce an export quota system at Newcastle to help reduce the ship queue. Port Waratah Coal Services Ltd, which operates the two coal terminals at Newcastle, said on Feb 21 that it would apply to the national competition regulator to reinstate the system through Dec 31.
The average waiting time at the port rose by 2.32 days from a week earlier to 21.10 days, amid the growing queues.
Coal stocks on hand at the Carrington and Kooragang berths rose by 55,000 tonnes to 1.071 million tonnes.
Twenty ships carrying coal left Newcastle in the week ended March 3, two more than in the previous week, Newcastle Port said yesterday in an e-mailed report. Thirteen of the vessels were headed for Japan, four for Taiwan, two for South Korea and one for the Netherlands.
Newcastle last year failed to increase shipments as planned due to lower volumes of the fuel received from miners and port maintenance work. Newcastle accounts for about a third of total coal export capacity in Australia, the world's biggest coal exporter.
GlobalCOAL's weekly index of export prices for power-station coal at Newcastle last week fell for a second week last week to US$52.04 a metric ton, remaining above US$50 for an 11th week.
The number of ships queuing outside the port in New South Wales state as of early Monday was up from 67 a week earlier, according to data on Newcastle Port Corp's website.
Ships waited an average of more than 21 days to load coal last week, compared with 0.14 days for general cargo ships, it said.
Australian shipments of thermal coal have risen after China cut exports to meet increasing domestic demand.
Almost 90 per cent of coal shipped through Newcastle last year was thermal coal produced in the Hunter Valley by mining companies such as Rio Tinto Group, BHP Billiton Ltd and Xstrata plc.
The coal ship queue compares with an average of 23 in 2006.
Newcastle Port shipped 1.57 million metric tons of coal in the week ended 7 am on Monday, taking the volume shipped in March so far to 1.24 million tons. Newcastle Port is budgeting shipments of 6.7 million tons for the whole of March.
Hunter Valley coal miners last month voted to re-introduce an export quota system at Newcastle to help reduce the ship queue. Port Waratah Coal Services Ltd, which operates the two coal terminals at Newcastle, said on Feb 21 that it would apply to the national competition regulator to reinstate the system through Dec 31.
The average waiting time at the port rose by 2.32 days from a week earlier to 21.10 days, amid the growing queues.
Coal stocks on hand at the Carrington and Kooragang berths rose by 55,000 tonnes to 1.071 million tonnes.
Twenty ships carrying coal left Newcastle in the week ended March 3, two more than in the previous week, Newcastle Port said yesterday in an e-mailed report. Thirteen of the vessels were headed for Japan, four for Taiwan, two for South Korea and one for the Netherlands.
Newcastle last year failed to increase shipments as planned due to lower volumes of the fuel received from miners and port maintenance work. Newcastle accounts for about a third of total coal export capacity in Australia, the world's biggest coal exporter.
GlobalCOAL's weekly index of export prices for power-station coal at Newcastle last week fell for a second week last week to US$52.04 a metric ton, remaining above US$50 for an 11th week.