Coal exports from Newcastle port in eastern Australia were little changed at 2.97 million mt in the seven-day period ended 7 am Sydney time Monday, (2200 GMT Sunday), compared with 2.99 million mt in the previous seven days, Newcastle Port Corp. said in its weekly operations report Tuesday.
Coal was loaded on to 28 ships at the port's three coal terminals during the period, compared with 34 vessels in the previous seven days.
Shiploading rates at Port Waratah Coal Services' two export terminals at Newcastle slid 21.8% week on week to 1.9 million mt in the week ended Sunday, the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Coordinator said in a report.
The HVCCC report Sunday did not provide reasons for the export slump.
Based on the two reports, Newcastle's third coal terminal -- operated by the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group consortium -- likely exported around 1 million mt of coal last week, almost double the previous week's total of 560,000 mt, according to Platts calculations.
The NCIG consortium does not reveal its coal export volumes or cargo destinations on a regular basis.
Approximately 87% of the coal shipped from the PWCS terminals in April was thermal coal, while the rest was coking coal, PWCS said in a report released May 1.
PICKUP IN NOTIFIED SHIP ARRIVALS
There was a slight pickup in the number of ships sailing to Newcastle to load coal exports last week, with NPC's latest report showing 46 ships were headed to the port and in possession of a notified arrival slot as of 7 am Sydney time Monday, compared with 34 ships a week ago.
In addition, as of Monday, five ships were waiting at the port to load coal, and seven vessels were berthed at its coal terminals and taking on cargo, NPC said.
There were 23 ships in the vessel arrival queue for the PWCS terminals on Monday, compared with 18 ships a week ago, HVCCC said in its report, adding that it was expecting the PWCS shipping queue to number 20 by the end of May.
There was 1.44 million mt of coal exports stockpiled at the PWCS terminals Sunday, an increase on the 1.22 million mt in the week-ago period, HVCCC said.
The Hunter Valley rail network used to transport coal exports from around 40 mines in New South Wales' coal fields to the Newcastle port is to undergo extensive maintenance over May 14-18, HVCCC said in a report on its website.
