Newcastle

19. дек, 10:33 Asia Coal-Australia thermal coal dips to $110/tonne Australia's thermal coal pr...

seagull 19. дек, 10:33
Asia Coal-Australia thermal coal dips to $110/tonne
Australia's thermal coal prices, the benchmark for Asia, slipped to around $110 per tonne in thin trading, although Chinese buyers were reportedly in the market for some cargoes next year, Reuters reports. Thermal coal on the global COAL Newcastle index for the week to date closed at $110.20 per tonne on Thursday, down from $111.47 per tonne a week earlier.

Despite the lower prices, there were reports that supplies from Australia's Newcastle port were a little tight for very prompt delivery, likely due to some producers overselling for December and January.

Australian thermal coal shipments from Newcastle port rose 34 percent in the week ended Dec. 12 to 2.58 million tonnes, while the vessel queue increased to 20 ships from 12 as some producers rushed to send out a few extra cargoes by the year-end.

Chinese import demand for next year was seen picking up, although sources said buyers were still not committing to large volumes.

"It seems like we've seen a little timid term interest come from China," one Sydney-based trade source said.

In China, the domestic coal price benchmark was slightly lower at 830 yuan ($130) per tonne last week from 840 yuan the previous week, according to the weekly Bohai-Rim Bay thermal coal price index published Wednesday.

Chinese import demand typically ramps up when domestic prices climb above the cost of importing coal.

China's coal supply will be "basically balanced" with demand in 2012, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a document published on Thursday.

Utilities from Japan, Australia's number one coal buyer, and Australian suppliers Xstrata and Anglo American continued to negotiate for the annual coal contract beginning January.

Buyers were said to have put an offer below $110 per tonne on the table, with suppliers holding out for $120 per tonne.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is back in the lead negotiator position, after ceding to Chugoku Electric and Tohoku Electric in the negotiations immediately following the March earthquake as it struggled to deal with the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The 2011 benchmark annual contract starting April 1, which represents most of the long-term coal volumes imported during the year, was settled at a record of $129.85 per tonne, while a smaller annual contract beginning in October was settled at $126.50 a tonne.

The January thermal coal supply contract typically represents about 10 to 15 percent of Japan's annual imports, according to industry sources.

en.portnews.ru

8. дек, 9:46 Newcastle port plan may be ditched The state government is looking to ditch a l...

seagull 8. дек, 9:46
Newcastle port plan may be ditched
The state government is looking to ditch a long-standing promise to make Newcastle the next container port after Botany, reported The Newscastle Herald.

Changing Labour's "three ports strategy" would make it easier for Nathan Tinkler to achieve his plans for a coal-loader on part of the former BHP site.

A state government submission lodged last month with federal agency Infrastructure Australia shows the government intends allowing as many as seven million containers a year through Botany, or more than three times the 2.02 million containers shipped last year.

Botany's existing approval is for 3.2 million containers a year and seven million a year would kill Newcastle's chances of building a successful terminal, despite its natural advantages and Botany's already critical congestion.

But the news is not all bad for Newcastle, with the state and federal governments looking at new rail freight lines north from Sydney.

In an apparent reference to the long-awaited Fassifern-Hexham freight link, the submission says "the precise scope is still subject to agreement but may include . . . dedicated freight access between Sydney and Newcastle".

The Fassifern-Hexham link would remove most of the traffic delays at Adamstown gates.

The submission has generated little if any fanfare until now.
But a former key BHP figure in Newcastle, Greg Cameron, says it shows successive state governments have treated the region very badly.

Now living in Canberra, Cameron was a key figure in creating the Steel River industrial park before the 1999 steelworks closure.
Cameron said the rail link now promoted by Hunter Ports was part of BHP's plans in the late-1990s, but the government didn't want it.

"The business case for the multi-purpose terminal was always dependent on that rail link to Hexham," Cameron said
"BHP selected that land a century ago as the best port site in
Australia and it has the potential to serve the nation for another 100 years, provided it is used in the best interests of the community."

A spokesman for Ports Minister Duncan Gay said the government was reviewing Labour's 2003 "three ports" strategy along with plans to expand Botany.

en.portnews.ru

18. ноя, 11:46 Newcastle Port asks miners to cut back production Port Waratah Coal Services (P...

seagull 18. ноя, 11:46
Newcastle Port asks miners to cut back production
Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) has requested that coal miners cut sales this quarter as the Hunter Valley Coal Chain struggles.PWCS has reportedly asked miners for a voluntary reduction of 760 000 tonnes between now and the end of the year, according to The Newcastle Herald.
The request to ask miners to cut their orders was due to weather delays between June and September.
The move mirrors those made last year, as the HVCC suffered serious log jams and ships waiting in queue numbered around 50.
Figures from the HVCC have predicted numbers to reach 47 by the end of the month, with an average 12 days to load.
In October, ship numbers reportedly reached 54, with 38 ships waiting at anchor outside the port.
Planned maintenance played a part in these higher than average numbers.

seanews.ru/event

27. окт, 10:21 Australia's Newcastle port shipping queue to pass 50 ships by end-November The ...

seagull 27. окт, 10:21
Australia's Newcastle port shipping queue to pass 50 ships by end-November
The offshore vessel queue for Port Waratah Coal Services' coal terminals at Newcastle port in Australia is expected to exceed 50 ships by the end of November, its highest level since June 2010, the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Coordinator said in its latest report, published Monday on its website.
In a report issued one week earlier, HVCCC said it was expecting 48 ships would be queuing to load coal exports from the PWCS coal terminals at the end of November, Platts reports.
Planned railway maintenance requiring the closure of an extensive section of the Hunter Valley coal chain for three days from November 22 is forecast to trim PWCS coal exports to 7.8 million mt in the month of November, said the HVCCC.
The actual number of ships in the PWCS shipping queue at midnight Australian Eastern Daylight Time (1:00 GMT) October 24 was 38 vessels, according to the HVCCC's website.
The coal chain coordinator, which oversees the flow of exports from 35 coal mines operated by 14 different coal producers such as Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata, expects numbers in the PWCS shipping queue to remain stable through to the end of October.
"The vessel queue is expected to be around 38 [ships] at the end of October based on [vessel] nominations of 9.1 million mt [of coal cargo] and ship-loading of 8.6 million mt," said the HVCCC's latest report.
The continued strong upwards trend in the vessel queue at Newcastle port could reflect the gradual recovery of Japan's demand for imported coal in the wake of its March earthquake, speculated market sources.
Japan is the largest customer for Newcastle coal exports, accounting for 51% of PWCS' 72.4 million mt of coal export tonnage in the nine-month period ended September 2011, according to statistics posted on the PWCS website.
"Hokuriku and some Japanese general industry end-users are in the market for some extra coal," said one market source, who estimated Hokuriku was looking for 1-2 million mt of Newcastle thermal coal. The two PWCS coal terminals at Newcastle port exceeded their target for coal exports of 1.86 million mt for the week ended October 23 by 117,000 mt, having exported 1.95 million mt of coal cargo in the week period, said the HVCCC report. During the month of October, the rate of throughput at the two PWCS terminals has been just over 100 million mt/year.
"October's PWCS month-to-date is at a rate of 100.8 million mt, 160,000 mt below the PWCS declared outbound target," said the HVCCC's report.
Coal stockpile levels at the PWCS terminals were stable on the week at almost 1.2 million mt on October 24.
Trains delivered 2.3 million mt of coal exports to the two PWCS terminals and one Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group terminal in the week ended October 23, which was just 115,000 mt short of the coal chain's weekly target of 2.4 million mt, said the Hunter Valley coal chain coordinator in its report.


Source: shippingonline.cn

1. сен, 8:44 BHP approves $367 mln to expand Australian coal port Global miner BHP Billiton ...

seagull 1. сен, 8:44
BHP approves $367 mln to expand Australian coal port
Global miner BHP Billiton has approved plans to invest $367 million to expand the Newcastle coal port in Australia, the company said on Wednesday, Reuters reports. The port expansion will increase capacity at the terminal by 25 percent to 66 million tonnes a year, with the terminal due to start operating in 2014. BHP Billiton has a 35.5 percent stake in the port.

Source: cruiseindustrynews.com

13. июл, 20:47 New coal terminal to be built at Newcastle, New South Wales Port Waratah Coal S...

seagull 13. июл, 20:47
New coal terminal to be built at Newcastle, New South Wales
Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS), based at Port of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, announced on July 6 that it plans to build a new coal terminal called Pier No. 4, which is expected to have a handling capacity of 120 million mt per year. Construction is planned to start in 2013, and is expected to take 10 years, Steel Orbis reports. PWCS has already invested $243 million to expand port capacity. By the end of 2012, its port handling capacity is expected to reach 145 million mt.

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