By Geoff Easdown
COMMODITY exports worth hundreds of millions are likely to be delayed for weeks by the disastrous floods in Queensland.
As many coal mines suspend operations, vital rail and road links are being cut, restricting the movement of thousands of tonnes of coal and 225,000-plus tonnes of wheat from inland mines and storages to the ports at Mackay and Gladstone.
At last count more than 90 bulk carriers were at anchor off the central Queensland coast waiting to be loaded, with each vessel racking up charges of $13,000 a day while idle.
Sugar, beef and seafood exports are also affected by the floods which now span more than more than one million square kilometres, more than the land mass of France and Germany combined.
Central and southern Queensland’s worst floods in half a century have knocked out about 155 million tonnes or 42 per cent of Australia’s annual coal supply, most of it coking or metallurgical coal, in the past month, according to ANZ commodities analyst Mark Pervan.
Coal shipments to the Dalrymple Bay Coal terminal, at Mackay, have been cut from 28 trains to 20 a day, halting $27 million worth of exports.
Andrew Garrett, a spokesman for the DBC terminal, toldBusinessDaily that the stockpile at the loader was down to 600,000 tonnes, well below the ideal level of 1.2 million tonnes.
Further south at Gladstone, port facilities are continuing to operate while mines stockpile coal which will be shipped when the Blackwater rail line reopens.
Thermal coal prices have risen for a sixth week in a row, jumping 4.5 per cent to $131.80 a tonne last Friday, the highest since September 2008.
Meanwhile an aerial inspection of the damaged Blackwater rail network has indicated minimal ballast damage, says Leo Zussino, who runs the port at Gladstone. He said the rail line to the mines at Moura could be operating by the weekend.
The reduction in Australian sourced coal has caused buyers to scramble for replacement cargoes and sent prices for both thermal and coking coal sharply higher.
Wheat and other grain exports are similarly affected, says David Ginns, a spokesman for rural exporter Graincorp.
He said road and rail disruptions had blocked receivals at grain terminals at Brisbane and Gladstone. However trucks and trains were still bringing grain to the port at Mackay.
A meat shortage also looms with Mackay producers unable to get their livestock to meatworks, forcing exporter Borthwicks to postpone the start to its processing season for a second time.
The floods also have dealt what could be the fatal blow to Bundaberg’s seafood industry where equipment was washed away and processing facilities inundated.
”We’ve a fleet at sea and we’re expecting significant catches, but where they will unload, I don’t know,” said Sid McKeown, the port’s Australian Fisheries manager.
Cotton prices have also soared due to shortages caused by crop losses.
Arthur Spellson, chairman of the Australian Cotton Shippers’ Association believes that up to 300,000 bales of cotton have been lost.
Source: www.heraldsun.com
