North Queensland's coal exports rise 10% MoM in May

Connected by rail to dozens of coal mines in the Bowen Basin, Northeast Australia, these three terminals are the primary conduits for Queensland coal to overseas markets. Coking coal typically makes up the majority, as reported.

Last month, coal throughput via the Hay Point Coal Terminal (HPCT) climbed 22% on month to 4.22 million tonnes, also marking the highest monthly level since June last year, NQBP data showed.

Located in the Hay Point port around 40 kilometres south of Mackay in Queensland, the terminal is owned by Australian miner BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) and is mainly responsible for the company's coal loading. Fluctuations in its throughput often reflect BMA's mining schedules, Mysteel Global learnt.

At the nearby Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT), which is also located in the Hay Point port, coal shipments reached 4.87 million tonnes in May, down 4% on month but up 17% on year.

The same month, 2.61 million tonnes of Australian coal were shipped from the North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT) at the Abbot Point port, the most northerly of the three terminals. This volume rose 24% from April and marked the highest monthly throughput from the terminal so far this year. On a yearly basis, the May reading was lower by a marginal 0.2%, according to the data.

Over January-May, total coal throughputs via the three terminals reached 49.44 million tonnes, up 4.9% from the same period of last year, Mysteel Global calculated.

Written by Adrian Zhou, zhouwenhaoa@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com