Peabody Energy, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Xstrata and Anglo American have all declared force majeure in the region Queensland

Queensland floods in 2008 left steel producers with a threefold increase in annual contract prices to about US$300 a ton.
Queensland accounts for the majority of the premium hard coking coal supply on a global seaborne basis. Queensland is the biggest global exporter of coal used in steel production.
Collins Stewart believes the current situation is worse than the 2008 flooding, as more mines and transportation infrastructure have been affected this time. About 37% of the world’s traded coking coal has been affected, according to Macquarie.
Mines affected in 2008 took at least six months to recover from the disruption and return to full capacity. The cumulative loss of production is expected to maintain upward pressure on spot prices for several weeks.
Coal stockpiles at Gladstone harbor in Queensland are very low after flooding shut a rail network. Eighteen ships are waiting to load and 12 more are expected at the harbor in the next 10 days.
Meanwhile, Queensland coal miner Macarthur Coal stated on Wednesday that its now expecting first-half profit at the low end of its forecast range due to production issues.
Peabody Energy, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Xstrata and Anglo American have all declared force majeure in the region, which means they won’t be able to meet contractual obligations due to unforeseen circumstances.
About 98 million tons of capacity to produce steelmaking coal is under force majeure, equivalent to 73% of Queensland exports.
Australia shipped 259 million tons of coal for steel and power in 2009, according to the World Coal Association.
Australia is the largest producer of coal used in steelmaking, contributing more than 40% of the global seaborne trade, according to Deutsche Bank AG. The country is the second-largest exporter of the commodity after Indonesia.
Coking coal suppliers traditionally hold annual talks with steelmakers to fix benchmark contracts for the 12 months from April 1.
Steelmakers may agree to monthly pricing for coking coal, as proposed by BHP, in the current environment rather than locking in US$300 a ton for a whole quarter, Macquarie says.
There will be a material impact on Australian exports of coking coal, even if no further rain falls, Morgan Stanley adds.
Flooding is also affecting thermal coal, used by power stations, driving the price of supplies at the port of Newcastle in Australia’s New South Wales, the benchmark for Asia, to the most in 27 months.
Prices jumped 3% to US$126.10 a ton in the week ended Dec. 31, the most since Oct. 2008.