Rail and Flood Bottlenecks Delay, Reduce $952 Million Coal Shipments from Australia's Newcastle Port

PERTH, AUSTRALIA--September 17, 2010--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Several global mining majors, including Xstrata plc (LSE:XTA) (Zug, Switzerland), BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE:BHP) (Melbourne, Australia) and Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RTP) (London, England), have been asked to voluntarily reduce their coal shipments from Newcastle Port in New South Wales. According to reports, problems with railway connectivity and floods have delayed exports worth $952 million from the port. The delay has impacted all major coal mining companies. In comparison to the contracts signed by coal suppliers, coal shipments from the port may fall short by 10 million tons.

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