Cyclone Debbie has put coking coal supplies at risk leading to price rallies as major buyers Japan, China, India and Turkey are forced to look to Russia, Mongolia, Mozambique and the US to secure supplies. The prospect of a five-week delay until the rail lines are repaired, followed by the time needed to restore coal flows from mines to port and then a roughly 12-14 day journey to ports in China and Japan means coking coal consumers may struggle to avoid running out of supplies before normal service from Australia is resumed. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said it was monitoring developments in China closely but had no immediate comment. Landslides on the busiest rail line connecting coking coal mines in Australia's Queensland to ports have halted operations and are expected to take around five weeks to repair. As we previously noted, BHP Billiton and India's Jindal Steel and Power, which has coking coal operations in NSW have been affected by non-stop rains and have declared force majeure.
Cyclone Debbie has put coking coal supplies at risk leading to price rallies as major buyers Japan, China, India and Turkey are forced to look to Russia, Mongolia, Mozambique and the US to secure supplies. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said it was monitoring developments in China closely but had no immediate comment. Landslides on the busiest rail line connecting coking coal mines in Australia's Queensland to ports have halted operations and are expected to take around five weeks to repair. As we previously noted, BHP Billiton and India's Jindal Steel and Power, which has coking coal operations in NSW have been affected by non-stop rains and have declared force majeure.