In what could be regarded as good news for steel makers, the Goonyella rail system in the Queensland region of Australia is now expected to re-open on 26Apr’17, which is ahead by about one and half weeks of the scheduled shut-down timeline.
The rail system was shut-down after the Debbie cyclone hitting the Queensland region early Apr’17. The rail system was scheduled to reopen after five weeks, around on 8May’17, but, the resumption of the rail system is scheduled to start ahead of the schedule, albeit initially with speed restrictions and reduced capacity.
The Goonyella rail system connects the important coal exporting terminals—Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay, and mainly transports Australian Prime Coking Coal and PCI materials from Queensland coal mines—the world’s largest Coking Coal supply region—to ports.
Moreover, another three coal rail systems within the Central Queensland Coal Network were already back in operation.
The imminent resumption of coal rail systems indicates that prices of Coking Coal will drift downwards. Prices of the Premium HCC have reached USD 304/MT FoB Australia due to the supply constraints, post the cyclone.
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