Queensland coal rail line closure extends to 11 days

Australian haulage firm Aurizon has pushed back the restart of coal deliveries through the Blackwater line of the Central Queensland Coal Network (CQCN) to the 102mn t/yr port of Gladstone by four days.

Aurizon now expects to restart coal railing on the line on 9 February, rather than the earlier estimate of 5 February, leaving coal mines on the Blackwater system unable to deliver coal to Gladstone for up to 11 days. A collision between a freight train and a coal train operated by Aurizon occurred at 7:15pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (08:15 GMT) on 29 January bringing down overhead power lines.

The smaller Moura rail line is still operating and delivering coal to Gladstone. Moura delivered 12.9mn t of coal to Gladstone in 2021, while Blackwater delivered 50.5mn t.

The ship queue outside Gladstone fell to 23 on 2 February from 27 on 31 January but was up from an average queue of 22 on 30 January.

Argus last assessed high-grade 6,000 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal at $319.23/t fob Newcastle on 27 January, down from $410.17/t on 9 December last year and from a peak of $444.59/t fob on 9 September. Argus assessed the premium hard low-volatile metallurgical coal price at $347.85/t fob Australia on 1 February, up from $253.30/t on 9 December and above the previous peak of $320.90/t on 7 November.

By Jo Clarke