According to Newcastle Port Corp., in the week ended August 31, 2012, coal shipments from the Port of Newcastle in Queensland the coal producing state of Australia totaled 2.85 million metric tons (mt). The figure constitutes 6% decrease compared to the previous week. The port authority has forecast that Newcastle port will ship a total of 10.9 million mt for September.
Similarly, based on North Queensland Bulk Ports Corp. records, 1.9 million mt of coal was shipped from Hay Point. While this may seem like a substantial amount, it was a significant decrease on the 3.1 million mt shipped in August 2011 and less again than the 3.4 million mt shipped in August 2010, Coolum & North Shore News reported. Further north at Abbot Point, the August coal load of 1.4 million mt was slightly up on August 2011, however was still below the 2010 shipment of 1.9 million mt.
It’s a similar story at Hay Point’s Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, with the 2012 August coal shipment of 4.8 million mt being well down on the 5.8 million mt shipped in 2010.
