Australian coal rail line to shut for 2 weeks: Coronado

The Blackwater rail line in Queensland, Australia will be closed for up to two weeks because of maintenance, which will restrict coal deliveries to the key port of Gladstone.

The maintenance program will run from late July to early August, coal mining firm Coronado said on 25 July. This is limiting metallurgical supply from Queensland and pushing up the price of pulverised coal injection (PCI) coal relative to Australian premium low-volatile coal, it added.

The two-week shutdown was planned before Coronado released its 16.4mn-17.2mn t saleable coal guidance for 2024, which it still expects to reach despite a week-long outage on the Blackwater line in June-July following a collision.

Shippers appear prepared for the reduction in shipping from the 102mn t/yr Gladstone port over the next couple of weeks, with just 12 ships queued outside the port on 25 July, down from 23 on 6 June and below-average queues of around 20.

Coal is delivered to Gladstone through the 100mn t/yr capacity Blackwater rail line and the 30mn t/yr capacity Moura line, both of which are operated by Australian rail firm Aurizon. Gladstone's shipments fell by 9.5pc in June compared with a year earlier, partly because of rail constraints. Around two-thirds of Gladstone's coal shipments are metallurgical coal and a third are thermal.

A fire at UK-South African mining firm Anglo American's Grosvenor mine already hit Australian metallurgical coal exports, which led the firm to cut its 2024 production guidance to 14mn-15.5mn t from 15mn-17mn t.

The premium for premium hard coal prices over PCI coal prices has shrunk to around $30/t from $145/t over the past six months. Argus last assessed the premium hard low-vol price at $224/t fob Australia on 24 July, with the PCI low-vol price at $193.65/t.

Aurizon and Gladstone Port were contacted for comment, but have yet to respond at the time of writing.

By Jo Clarke

Australian coal price comparisons ($/t)