New railings from MACH Energy in New South Wales helped drive Aurizon’s above rail business to a 4 per cent rise in coal volumes in the March quarter.
Aurizon’s above rail operations handled 51.7 million tonnes of coal in the March 2019 quarter, up 4 per cent year on year. 36.4 million tonnes was recorded on the Central Queensland Coal Network, up 2 per cent. The remaining 15.3 million tonnes came from South East Queensland and New South Wales, an increase of 9 per cent.
Growth in NSW came from the commencement of railings for MACH Energy, and stronger railings for other customers, the company said in an ASX statement.
“March was a monthly volume record for NSW, surpassing the previous record in December 2018,” the company said. Volumes stayed flat in South East Queensland.
Further north, on the CQCN, a 2 per cent rise in volumes was driven by strong customer demand, albeit this was mostly offset by protected industrial action, weather impacts and third party derailments resulting in the short term closure of the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal at Hay Point.
Aurizon’s total above rail volumes were down 1 per cent, however, due to the cessation of two iron ore contracts, and weather impacts from the flooding in North Queensland.
Non-coal bulk volumes were 20 per cent lower in the March 2019 quarter than a year prior. The majority of this decline was iron ore.