Coal exports from the Port Kembla Coal Terminal in Australia slumped 21% month on month in November to 463,172 mt, data from the terminal operator showed Thursday.
Monthly throughput from the terminal has steadily fallen for the past few months.
The total for November was 37% lower than the fiscal year-to-date (July-November) monthly average of 738,901 mt, the data showed.
Over July-November, the terminal exported 3.69 million mt of coal, which translates to an annualized rate of 8.81 million mt/year. The annualized rate has steadily dropped from 10.33 million mt/year in September.
South32, which supplies coal for export to the Port Kembla Coal Terminal, suspended a longwall at its Appin mine during the month which the company said resulted in a production loss of approximately 500,000 mt.
The loss was expected to translate directly into sales due to low inventory levels, the miner said during the month.
Coal stocks at PKCT stood at 503,969 mt as on Thursday, up 54% from 327,680 mt a month earlier, the data showed.
There were two vessels assembled and one queuing for coal on Thursday, which compares to zero assembled or queuing a month earlier, it said.
The terminal is located 72 km south of Sydney and services the Southern and Western coalfields in New South Wales. It exports high quality metallurgical and thermal coal to customers around the world.
