Ships queue to take coal out of Newcastle

energy

Coal authorities in Newcastle, on the New South Wales central coast, say they expect a new quota system will soon begin to reduce the number of ships queuing off the coast.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last month granted interim permission for the rationing system, which is aimed at reducing the amount of time ships are forced to wait to enter the port.
There are presently 72 ships waiting to load coal, but Port Waratah Coal Services says it expects the number will start to fall within weeks.
Last week ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel announced the system would stay in place until at least the end of the year.
"There appear to be a number of factors contributing to a large queue of ships in the port," he said.
"The coal is being produced at the coal mines. Then there is the issue of transporting it on the rail through to the port itself and loading it onto the ships.
"At the same time there seems to be some evidence of overbooking of ships by the coal producers.
"Now put all those factors together into a melting pot and you end up with large queues of ships with substantial demurrage that's being paid, the demurrage can cost up to around $1 million a day which is just a sunk loss cost."
Demurrage is a term for the detentio of a loading or unloading vessel beyond the agreed time period.
Statistics from the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Logistics team show that in the first quarter of this year, coal was being exported from Newcastle at the highest ever quarterly rate of 85.4 million tonnes per annum.
Blame game
Federal Transport Minister Mark Vaile lays the blame for delays squarely at the feet of the states.
"The blockages are mainly at the coal ports on the eastern seaboard and they are operated by state governments," he said.
"There are two pieces of infrastructure that service the coal industry; there are the rail lines that run down to the ports and there are the coal loading facilities in the ports.
"For example in Newcastle the New South Wales Government has been pledging to invest in new coal loading facilities in Newcastle for years, they haven't done it, that's a significant part of the reason for the blockage at Newcastle.
"Since the Commonwealth Government took over the operation of the rail line down the Hunter Valley, the coal line down the Hunter Valley, we've invested tens of millions of dollars.
"We've actually increased the capacity of that line by 20 million tonnes a year, but it's all to no avail when it can't get loaded onto the ships because there's not been the investment in coal loading facilities at the port."
The states control the ports and the Commonwealth wants to take over and install a single national regulator, but it is an idea that the Queensland Premier Peter Beattie rejects.
"Dump the politics, the states run ports better than Commonwealth possibly could," he said.
"There is no proven record by the Commonwealth of running anything efficiently and from a state point of view we're investing a small fortune.
"Now if Peter Costello wants to put another $20 or $30 billion on the table to upgrade infrastructure around Australia he should say so, in the meantime he should get out of the road and let us do it.
"We don't want to see delays in export of coal or any other mineral from Queensland because of some political game in the lead up to federal election."
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