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Firmer prices lift Australian coking coal capacity

  • Spanish Market: Coking coal
  • 20/06/22

Around 8.4mn t/yr of new Australian coking coal production capacity has been bought on line this year, with a similar amount planned for the rest of 2022 and up to 14mn t/yr scheduled for 2023.

Firm, if volatile, metallurgical coal prices since late 2021 are starting to be reflected in mine restarts, new projects and expansions coming on line, bolstering supplies despite delays caused by extremely wet weather and safety concerns. The ramp-up of new projects, together with the approaching end of the 2021-22 fiscal year on 30 June, has seen vessel queues grow outside the key Queensland coking coal ports of Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, Hay Point and Gladstone.

Australian developer Bowen Coking Coal (BCC) began railing coal from its 1.2mn t/yr Bluff pulverised coal injection (PCI) grade mine to Gladstone this month. BCC uses Australian firm QCoal's washing and rail loading facilities at the 1.2mn t/yr Cook Colliery, which also restarted in April having closed in late 2019 when then owner Bounty Mining went into administration.

Cook, which produces thermal and coking coal, had been scheduled to restart in late 2021 but was delayed by bad weather and by safety concerns at its contractor Mastermyne following a rock fall at the 1mn t/yr Gregory-Crinum coking and thermal coal mine. Gregory-Crinum, which is owned by Japanese firm Sojitz, is due to reopen this quarter and rise to full capacity during July-September.

Bluff is the first stage in BCC's plans to mine 5mn t/yr of coal in Queensland by 2024, which includes its Burton and Lenton coking coal projects that it is in the process of acquiring from Australian coal mine New Hope. The firm in May began mobilising a contract mining crew at the 1.2mn t/yr Broadmeadow East where it aims to mine 600,000t of run-of-mine coal in 2022, with first coal delivered to the Carborough Downs processing plant in July.

Australian firm Fitzroy owns the Carborough Downs mine and plant, which it also uses to process coal from its 1mn t/yr Broadlea swing coking coal mine that it restarted in November because of higher prices. Fitzroy, which is backed by US investment firms AMCI and Riverstone, is also building the 2.7mn t/yr Ironbark No.1 project that will also use the Carborough Downs plant.

AMCI increased its exposure to Australian coking coal this year by acquiring the Baralaba PCI coal mine and 5mn t/yr Baralaba South project from US firm Liberty Mutual. It has not indicated what it plans to do with Baralaba South, after Liberty let the deadline lapse to apply for environmental approval for the project last year.

Growth potential

UK-South African mining firm Anglo American has some of the biggest potential to expand Australian metallurgical coal production through the expansion of its 5mn t/yr Grosvenor and 6.5mn t/yr Moranbah mines. Associated growth projects have been put on hold after a series of safety issues at the mines, but both mines are slowly raising output, potentially allowing the firm to look at growth again.

Premium hard coking coal peaked above $660/t fob Australia in mid-March, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict increased demand for non-Russian metallurgical coal before easing over the past three months, albeit still being significantly above long-term averages. Argus last assessed the premium hard low-volatile coking coal price at $379.20/t fob Australia on 17 June, down from the peak of $664/t on 15 March but up from $177/t a year earlier.

Argus last assessed the PCI price at $360.65/t fob Australia on 17 June, up from $136.65/t on a year earlier and from around $70/t when Bluff was closed in November 2020.

Australian coking coal projects
FirmSize (mn t/yr)StatusStart date
Isaac Plains Complex (Isaac Downs)Stanmore Coal1.0transition from old mine completeJan-Mar '22
Aquila open cut and underground Anglo-American and Mitsui5.0undergound mine started in FebruaryFeb '22
Cook CollieryQcoal1.2restarted AprilApr '22
BluffBowen Coking Coal1.2first coal railed JuneJun '22
Gregory CrinumSojitz1.0restart delayed by roof fallby end-June '22
Broadmeadow EastBowen Coking Coal1.2mining contractor appointedJul '22
Tahmoor SouthSimec Group3.5Approved in October2022
Ironbark No.1Fitzroy Australia Resources2.7under construction2022
Olive DownsPembroke Resources15.0ground broken on project in April2023
Burton and LentonBowen Coking Coal2.0seeking finance for acquisiton from New Hope2023
Baralaba South Mount Ramsey5.0AMCI acquired project from Liberty Mutual this year2023
Wilton-FairhillFutura Resources/Sojitz3.0to be developed to compliment Gregory Crinum2023
Dendrobium ExtensionSouth325.2NSW government backed revised mine extension2026
Grosvenor phase 2Anglo American6.0Anglo waiting for Grosvenor ramp-up2026+
Moranbah SouthAnglo American and Exxaro Resources 18.0Anglo waiting for Grosvenor ramp-up2026+
Eagle DownsAquila Resources, South324.5South32 selling, Baosteel no commentUnknown

Australian metallurgical coal prices ($/t)

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