Reuters Australia
Weather halts coal loading at two Australia ports
Thursday July 24, 12:48 PM
PERTH, July 24 (Reuters) - Bad weather has disrupted loading of coal ships at two key ports in the Australian state of Queensland, port operators said on Thursday, adding however that disruptions to shipments were expected to be limited.
BHP Billiton Ltd's (ASX: BHP.ax) BLT.L Hay Point terminal and the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, owned by Babcock and Brown Infrastructure Group BBI.AX, had stopped coal loading from Tuesday night due to rough sea conditions.
"We are experiencing high seas and windy conditions at Hay Point. We finished loading a ship on Tuesday night and we haven't sailed another one in due to the inclement weather," BHP spokeswoman Emma Meade said in an e-mail statement.
"We only have four or five ships waiting to load and we're not expecting any interruption to customer deliveries."
Hay Point terminal was expected to be fully operational by Thursday afternoon, BHP said.
Loading of coal at Dalrymple Bay, the second-largest in Australia, has also been delayed due to strong winds, said Greg Smith, general manager for operations.
Australia's weather bureau on Thursday warned of strong winds off the coast of Queensland, adding that maximum waves could be more than three metres.
Australia is the world's largest coal exporter. Coal exports from the northeastern state of Queensland are predominantly coking coal, which is used in steel making. (Reporting by Fayen Wong)
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