Coal exports from Australia's Gladstone port exceeded 7 million mt in November, as buyers from China, Japan and South Korea increased their offtake, a report from Gladstone port authority Friday said.
Throughput at the port -- which ships coal for a range of companies including Glencore, Rio Tinto and Japanese trading company Idemitsu -- was 7.2 million mt last month, up 21% from October's 5.94 million mt, said the port.
Coal exports from the Queensland shipment facility in eastern Australia had hit 7.09 million mt in August, which at the time was a monthly record, but they drifted lower to 6 million mt in September.
For the January-November period, the Queensland port shipped 66.5 million mt of coal, up from 64.2 million mt for the same period in 2014.
Earlier this year, a third coal terminal -- the Wiggins Island facility -- with a shipment capacity of 23 million mt/year opened for business at Gladstone port. JAPAN LEADS
Japan continued to lead the way as the main customer for Gladstone's thermal and coking coal shipments. It took delivery of 2.08 million mt of coal in November, up 23% from 1.68 million mt in October.
Over January-November, Japan took delivery of 21.85 million mt of coal shipments from Gladstone port, up from 20.2 million mt in the year-ago period, port data showed.
South Korean buyers took delivery of 1.8 million mt of coal from Gladstone port last month, up 28.5% from October's 1.4 million mt.
The Asian country has been increasing its coal offtake from Gladstone and for the January-November period South Korea's offtake has risen to 10.9 million mt, up from 9 million mt in the corresponding 2014 period. CHINA BUYERS RETURN
Chinese customers made a strong return last month, with the country taking delivery of 1.2 million mt of coal, up 26% from 956,000 mt in October, said Gladstone port authority in its latest update.
Shipments to China from Gladstone's coal terminals stood at 10.8 million mt for the January-November period, down from last year's January-November level of 15.33 million mt, said the data.
India's purchase volumes from Gladstone port were starting to level off with the South Asian country's customers booking 1.13 million mt of coal in November, down 11.5% from October's 1.28 million mt, according to the Gladstone port authority.
India is currently the second largest customer for Gladstone coal shipments at 13.46 million mt for the first 11 months of 2015. This is higher than its offtake of 11.8 million mt in January-November 2014 period.
Taiwan was another significant customer of Gladstone coal exports at 171,000 mt last month.
This brings Taiwan's total offtake over January-November to 3.1 million mt, compared with 2.65 million mt for January-November 2014.
