Rail fails to keep up with Dalrymple Bay queue

By Sineva Toevai

Between 20 and 40 ships had lined up at DBCT since April and in the past few weeks this number has moved into the 50s, DBCT general manager of operations Greg Smith said.
“The terminal capacity has got more capability than the rest of the supply system,” Smith said.
“There are not enough trains in the system to provide coal to the terminal and we may face this imbalance for quite some time.”
As of September 28th, 57 ships were queued at the coal terminal and the combined capacity of ships queued was roughly 5 million tonnes.
“There is not much we can do except maximise efficiency,” Smith said.
The record number of ships to queue at DBCT at any one time stood at about 60.
Smith hoped the recent upgrade of the Goonyella coal rail system in central Queensland would improve rail delivery of coal to DBCT.
The $500 million Jilalan rail yard upgrade, Queensland Rail’s biggest infrastructure project, is expected to boost the yard’s peak capacity from 29 trains handling 100 million tonnes of coal a year, to 42 trains a day carrying 130 million tonnes a year by 2010.
The 924 kilometre Gooynella system services 24 mines which are owned by a number of producers including the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance and Xstrata.
Babcock & Brown Infrastructure completed the expansion of DBCT in July, boosting capacity at the terminal by about 50 per cent to 85 million tonnes a year. The increased capacity allowed three out-loading conveyors to feed three shiploaders on four berths.
Coal exports had risen since late February due to a healthy level of Chinese demand for metallurgical and thermal coal, DBCT said.
In July, DBCT said it was conducting feasibility studies to determine scope for future development at the coal terminal.
Smith said DBCT was waiting to hear back from the coal producers that were recently presented with a proposal to expand capacity.
Subject to all the necessary approvals, terminal capacity could rise to more than 150 million tonnes a year.

Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – www.lloydslistdcn.com.au