Steelmaking coal prices could rise more than a third

AUSTRALIA’S devastating floods could remove over 5% of steelmaking coal from world markets this year and lift prices by a third or more, analysts estimated yesterday, as damage and disruption to coal infrastructure continue to spread.

Australia’s Bowen Basin coal district, the heart of the coking coal industry in Queensland state, is slowly emerging from floods that have since raced south, but recovery has been slow, with one Queensland coal port closed and two restricted.

More than half the world’s metallurgical coal exports come from Australia, most of it destined for steelmakers in Asia. Roughly 90% of that coal comes from Queensland, mostly the Bowen Basin.