Coal shipments have worst August for years but high prices buoy miners

afr.com:

Coal shipments fell more than a fifth in the month to the end of August, recording their lowest level for that period out of the Port of Newcastle, the world’s busiest export terminal for the resource, in at least five years.

Shipments were crimped by ongoing labour shortages and production cuts at water-logged mines flooded at the beginning of the year, and were affected by a drop in demand from Japan, a major thermal coal customer.

At this rate, Australia is on track for total coal exports to be around two per cent lower this year on 2022. Shipments have consistently fallen since at least 2020, although lower volumes have been more than made up for by a surge in coal prices. Volumes fell 13 per cent in the 12 months to December 31, but the total value of trade rose 116 per cent to more than $60 billion.

Coal exports have declined 15 per cent in the 12 months to June 30, according to analysis of Port of Newcastle data. Bloomberg

Around 90 per cent of the coal loaded from the Port of Newcastle is thermal coal, used in power generation. The latest data from the port, located near the coal-rich Hunter Valley region, shows coal exports dropped to just 10.95 million tonnes in August, the lowest for that month in five years.

This amounted to a 20 per cent fall in volumes compared to July when 13.37 million tonnes of coal was loaded at the port, making it the highest export month in 2023. Still, higher coal prices buoyed the value of shipments in August which reached $2.8 billion, a fraction lower than the $3 billion fetched for cargoes in July. Over the past five years, shipments in August have ranged from between 13 million tonnes and 15 million tonnes, according to an analysis of data from the Port of Newcastle.

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