Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal and the Hay Point terminal saw coal shipments recover in May after the region's coking coal supplies were disrupted in the past two months by damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Debbie, North Queensland Bulk Ports Corp. data showed Tuesday.
DBCT shipped 4.36 million mt in May, up from 1 million mt in April, while the Hay Point terminal owned by BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance saw a rise to 3.37 million mt last month, from 758,736 mt in April.
Volumes for May from the two key coking coal export terminals are close to 3 million mt below shipment totals for May 2016.
For April and May combined, shipment volumes from the two ports are around half of the year-ago period, with close to 10 million mt lost from the two terminals.
Miners and mill buyers shrugged off the effect of the coal losses as seen on the spot market, where prices have come off by half from April's peak.
They see little immediate demand for spot met coal, as contracted material and earlier spot coverage keeps many buyers away from signalling the need for additional tons for now.
Further north, Abbot Point shipped 2.4 million mt in May to exceed year-ago levels, and up from 1.47 million mt in April. In May 2016, the port shipped 2.1 million mt and in April 2016 shipped 2.7 million mt.
The aftermath of the cyclone, which made landfall March 28, led to damage to the Goonyella coal rail system connecting mines to the Dalrymple Bay and Hay Point terminals, which reopened April 26.
Chinese coal mines may be operating at higher rates than a year ago under previous operating restrictions, supporting supplies in the domestic market. US export rates for met coal in April surged, with Japan taking the largest share ahead of destinations such as Brazil, Germany, Italy and Turkey.
Mozambique and Mongolia, along with Russia, remain key suppliers to Asia, while Teck of Canada and other met coal and PCI suppliers expect second-quarter volumes to increase sharply out of British Columbia ports.
