Coal exports from three major North Queensland terminals in Australia were 10.58 million tonnes in March, down 6.43% on the year and 4.82% on the month, showed data from North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation.
North Queensland mainly exports coal through Hay Point, Dalrymple Bay and Abbot Point coal terminals.
In March, exports from Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, which has a handling capacity of 85 million tonnes per year, came in at 4.53 million tonnes, down 13.69% year on year but ticking up 0.31% month on month.
Exports from Abbot Point coal terminal were recorded at 2.62 million tonnes in March, decreasing 2.24% from the year-ago level and 21.62% from the previous month.
Abbot Point is the most northerly and has the lowest handling capacity of 50 million tonnes each year among the three terminals.
The export volume of Hay Point coal terminal, operated by BHP Mitsubishi Alliance, stood at 3.41 million tonnes in March, increasing 1.57% on the year and 5.36% on the month. Hay Point has a handling capacity of 55 million tonnes per year.
Over the first three months this year, the three terminals exported 31.27 million tonnes of coal, rising 2.07% from year-ago 30.64 million tonnes, data showed.
The vast majority of North Queensland’s exports are coking coal.
Source: Sxcoal