Hunter Valley Coal Chain
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Hunter Valley Coal Chain (HVCC) is the chain of coal delivery in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Australia from (mainly open-cut) coal mines in the
Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...
to the Port of
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
and domestic coal-fired power stations in the Hunter Valley. The HVCC essentially follows the path of the
Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...
travelling south-east from the mining areas in the Hunter Valley to Newcastle. The HVCC mainly deals in the sea-borne export coal trade, especially to Asia (
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
in particular). It is one of six major coal chains in Australia: * four in
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
:
Abbot Point Abbot Point Port is home to the North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT), the most northerly deepwater coal port of Australia, situated approximately north-west of the township of Bowen (Queensland). Established in 1984, it consists of a rail i ...
, Dalrymple Bay/
Hay Point Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...
,
Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
and
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
; and * two in New South Wales: the Ports of Newcastle (also known as Port Waratah) and
Port Kembla A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...
. The port of Newcastle is the world's largest coal export port. Rising demand for coal, particularly in the Asian region has resulted in a strong increase in the volume of coal exported through the port. In 2013 port throughput was 150.5 million tonnes, up from 68 million tonnes in 2000.


The chain

Coal generally goes through the following stages between mine and port: * The producer makes arrangements to sell coal to a buyer on certain terms. * The coal is mined (most of the coal mines in the Hunter Valley are
open cut Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...
mines, also known as
open pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of minin ...
mines), processed, blended and stored either at a railway siding located at the mine or at a coal loading facility (used by several mines). * The coal is then transported to the Port of Newcastle, almost exclusively by rail. Some coal is transported to the port by road, but this generally requires permission from the local council (due to the effect on roadways and other infrastructure) and is also usually more costly per tonne than rail transport. * The coal is offloaded at the port onto stockpiles in the Port Waratah Coal Services and Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group facilities. * Once the vessel arrives at the port, the coal is loaded onto the vessel. * The vessel then transports the coal to its destination determined by the buyer.


HVCCC

In 2003 the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Logistics Team (HVCCLT) was established to improve the movement of coal from Hunter Valley mines to the port's coal loaders and then to markets across the globe. In 2009 the Hunter Valley coal industry went through a detailed view and major restructure of the contractual arrangements for the movement of coal. As a result the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Coordinator (HVCCC) formally replaced the HVCCLT in August of 2009 and expanded to include all Hunter Valley coal chain producers and service providers. HVCCC coordinates the resources of port operators Newcastle Port Corporation, terminal operators
Port Waratah Coal Services A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
and
Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
, railway operators
Aurizon Aurizon ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National. it was the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated o ...
,
Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...
and
One Rail Australia One Rail Australia is an Australian rail freight operator company. Founded by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in 1997 as Australian Southern Railroad, and later renamed Genesee & Wyoming Australia, it was renamed One Rail Australia in February 2020 af ...
, railway infrastructure managers
Australian Rail Track Corporation The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation spanning 8,500km across five states, 39 worksites and more than 50 First Nations. ...
and Producers.


Producers

The major coal producers in the Hunter Valley are: * Bengalla *
BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
* Bloomfield Collieries Pty Ltd * Centennial Coal Company Limited *
Glencore Glencore plc is a Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company with headquarters in Baar, Switzerland. Glencore's oil and gas head office is in London and its registered office is in Saint Helier, Jersey. The current company was c ...
Coal NSW Pty Ltd * Hunter Valley Operations (a joint venture of Yancoal and Glencore) * Idemitsu * MACH Energy *
Peabody Energy Peabody Energy is a coal mining and energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its primary business consists of the mining, sale, and distribution of coal, which is purchased for use in electricity generation and steelmaking. Peabody ...
* Whitehaven Coal *
Yancoal Yancoal is an Australian coal mining company operating mines in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. A dual-listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, it is majority owned by Yanzhou C ...


Consumers

Most coal produced in the Hunter Valley is sold directly by coal mines (producers) to overseas buyers. About 20% of coal is sold by traders who do not mine coal but act as agents or intermediaries in coal sales. The majority of Australian coal was traditionally sold to Japanese steel mills or power utilities in accordance with long term contracts. Those contracts were the subject of annual price and volume negotiations. The Japanese steel mills, operating in a co-ordinated manner and collectively known as the "JSM", negotiated prices for coking coal. One of the steel mills would be appointed as the lead negotiator for the initial contracts with producers. Prices in subsequent contracts would be based on these 'benchmark prices', adjusted for coal quality. This led to "JSM terms" being the benchmark for the industry. While coal is still sold under JSM terms, a greater variety of other contract terms now exist.


Rail infrastructure

The railway corridor used is part of the Main North railway line. The Hunter Valley infrastructure is owned by the
State Government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...
owned
RailCorp Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp) was an agency of the State of New South Wales, Australia established under the ''Transport Administration Act 1988'' in 2004. It was a division under the control of Transport for NSW since the latter' ...
and managed by the
Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
owned
Australian Rail Track Corporation The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation spanning 8,500km across five states, 39 worksites and more than 50 First Nations. ...
under a 60-year lease until 2064.The Agreement in Summary
Australian Rail Track Corporation
In November 1994, it was announced that the line would be opened up to other operators. Prior to only
FreightCorp FreightCorp (formally the ''Freight Rail Corporation'') was a railway operator owned by the Government of New South Wales responsible for intrastate and some interstate rail cargo handling from its creation in January 1989 until it was privatis ...
and its predecessors operated trains. The other infrastructure associated with coal transport, such as load points, is privately owned, usually by a mine or a coal loader. West of
Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...
the line is formed of two tracks, with three in places, with the lines being shared with passenger trains operated by
NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary interc ...
. East of Maitland the line is formed of four tracks with the southern pair exclusively for the use of coal trains with an underpass at Hanbury west of
Waratah Waratah (''Telopea'') is an Australian-endemic genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees, native to the southeastern parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania). The best-known species in this genus is ''Telopea speci ...
allowing trains to reach Port Waratah without having to interface with the northern pair of tracks. In 2006 the
Sandgate Flyover The Sandgate Flyover is a grade-separated railway flyover that carries the Main North line across the Kooragang Island line, located in Sandgate, in the City of Newcastle local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Description Si ...
was opened to similarly allow trains to access
Kooragang Island Kooragang () is the northernmost and largest suburb of the city of Newcastle, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Dominated by Kooragang Island, the eastern part of the suburb is primarily industrial, while the western part of th ...
. As at December 2012 there were 50 to 60 coal trains per day up to 1.5 kilometres in length." Hunter Valley Coal Chain - Rail developments at Hexham, NSW" ''Railway Digest'' January 2013 page 36 To alleviate congestion which frequently sees loaded trains queuing, in November 2013 construction commenced on five relief roads at
Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...
that will be located between the two running lines, with the westbound line relocated further south. This will allow coal trains to be pass one another and reach the ports in a more logical order. It is scheduled for completion in 2015.
Aurizon Aurizon ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National. it was the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated o ...
, East Coast Rail and
Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...
both provide locomotives and freight wagons to operate coal trains. East Coast Rail provide crews to operate
Xstrata Xstrata plc was an Anglo-Swiss multinational mining company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It was a major producer of coal (and the world's largest exporter of thermal coal), copper, ...
owned rolling stock, with Pacific National doing likewise for Whitehaven Coal and
Southern Shorthaul Railroad Southern Shorthaul Railroad is an Australian rail freight services operator in New South Wales and Victoria. The company also provides workshop services, such as rolling stock manufacturing and wagon and locomotive maintenance. History Sout ...
for
Centennial Coal ÷Some of the more notable coal companies in Australia are the following: Summary of coal companies Anglo Coal Australia Ltd Anglo Coal Australia Ltd owns and operates a number of mines in Queensland and New South Wales. Mines Callide mine: i ...
.


Port Waratah Coal Services

Port Waratah Coal Services Limited (PWCS) operates the main coal export facilities in Newcastle. The coal export facilities consist of two coal loading terminals, located on either side of the South Channel of the Hunter River. These are known as the Kooragang Coal Terminal, on
Kooragang Island Kooragang () is the northernmost and largest suburb of the city of Newcastle, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Dominated by Kooragang Island, the eastern part of the suburb is primarily industrial, while the western part of th ...
and the Carrington Coal Terminal in the suburb of Carrington. Each of those terminals comprises equipment for the delivery and storage of coal to the terminal and for the loading of coal onto vessels. PWCS leases the land on which the port is situated from the
Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...
under an agreement which states that the port is maintained as a 'common user facility'. The coal export facilities operated by PWCS have a total capacity of 133 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa): * Carrington coal terminal has a shiploading capacity of 25 Mtpa. It has berth space for two vessels and shiploading facilities that operate at 2,500 tonnes per hour (tph). Carrington Coal Terminal is able to accept coal deliveries by either road or rail. * Kooragang coal terminal has a shiploading capacity of 108 Mtpa. It has berth space for four vessels and shiploading facilities which can operate at 10,500 tph. Kooragang Coal Terminal is able to accept coal deliveries by rail only. * Kooragang coal terminal has been undergoing expansion due to demand since inception. Further expansion is currently underway to take total PWCS capacity to nominally 145 Mtpa by the end of 2012. The distribution of loading between Carrington and Kooragang Coal terminals is dependent on a number of factors: * '
Capesize Capesize ships are the largest dry cargo ships with ball mark dimension: about 170,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) capacity, 290 m long, 45 m beam (wide), 18m draught (under water depth). They are too large to transit the Suez Canal ( Suezmax limi ...
' class vessels usually berth at Kooragang Coal Terminal due to their larger size. However, they are also able to load at the Carrington Coal Terminal. '
Handysize Handysize is a naval architecture term for smaller bulk carriers or oil tanker with deadweight of up to 50,000 tonnes, although there is no official definition in terms of exact tonnages. Handysize is also sometimes used to refer to the span of ...
' class vessels are loaded at Carrington Coal Terminal also due to their size. '
Panamax Panamax and New Panamax (or Neopanamax) are terms for the size limits for ships travelling through the Panama Canal. The limits and requirements are published by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) in a publication titled "Vessel Requirements". ...
' class vessels may be loaded at either Kooragang Coal Terminal or Carrington Coal Terminal. * Coal which is to be delivered by road may only be delivered to Carrington Coal Terminal, and therefore any vessels which are to be loaded with road coal must be loaded at Carrington Coal Terminal. * If the vessel to be loaded is 'geared', that is, it has equipment on deck, then the vessel will usually be scheduled to berth at Carrington Coal Terminal, as the shiploaders at Carrington Coal Terminal are smaller and are therefore more easily able to move in and about equipment on the deck of a vessel. * Remaining vessels are then scheduled to ensure an even queue of vessels is maintained between the Kooragang Coal Terminal and Carrington Coal Terminal. If the queue for one of the terminals is substantially longer than for the other terminal, the schedule may be amended to ensure that the queues are kept reasonably even.


Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group

Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) operates the third coal export facility in Newcastle. Its terminal is also situated on Kooragang Island and has a capacity of 30 million tonnes per annum but it has the development approval for construction of a loader with a capacity of 66 million tonnes per annum for that site. NCIG is developing the site in stages. The company loaded its first ship in the first quarter of 2010. Full 30 million tonnes per annum operations were expected in the first quarter of 2011.


Capacity distribution systems

While productivity in supply chains is an issue for industries of all sizes, few industries have to deal with a network as broad and a demand as pressing as the coal industry. As at December 2012 Coal accounted for 18% of Australia's exports. But while Australia has an abundance of coal and a ravenous world market, particularly in Asia (especially
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, with its expanding need for coal in the steel industry), willing to devour it is disadvantaged by the distance that must be overcome to get the product to the market and the huge number of players involved. It is for this reason that the supply chain must run as smoothly as possible, moving the raw product from the mines, to the port and onto the ships no easy task. In 2011 Australia exported 281 million tonnes of coal and moved 97% of this by rail.Australia's coal exports down 19 Mt in 2011
''Australian Report'' January 2012
But over the last five years, getting the coal to these ports, onto the ships and to the market proved to be a difficult operation as the Chinese and other Asian markets demand soared. Freight bottlenecks rapidly developed, primarily at the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal and at Newcastle's Port Waratah. To cope with these bottlenecks, the terminal operators developed capacity management systems to cope with the volumes. The two hubs developed independent yet similar systems to cope with the problem of how to reduce queues, with Port Waratah using a Capacity Balancing System and Dalrymple Bay a Queue Management System. The Port Waratah model allocates production from the mines to available shipping in a way that maximises the capacity of the terminal. Since August 2003, there has been evidence that the Hunter Valley coal export infrastructure has been stretched and that some coal export growth might have been lost as a result of constraints in the system. In response to this situation, Port Waratah Coal Services (manager of the Kooragang coal terminal located on
Kooragang Island Kooragang () is the northernmost and largest suburb of the city of Newcastle, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Dominated by Kooragang Island, the eastern part of the suburb is primarily industrial, while the western part of th ...
and Carrington coal terminals at the Newcastle Port) applied to the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...
(ACCC) to implement a short term capacity distribution system to allocate the current capacity of the coal supply chain to existing coal exporters. This scheme was implemented in June 2004 and interim authorisation to continue a modified version of the scheme until December 2007 – called the medium term capacity distribution system – has been granted by the ACCC.


References


External links


Hunter Valley Coal Chain Logistics ChainNewcastle Coal Infrastructure GroupPort Waratah Coal Services
{{Hunter Region places and items of interest Coal mining in New South Wales Coal mining regions in Australia Coal terminals Mining railways in Australia Energy in New South Wales Hunter Region Newcastle, New South Wales Rail freight transport in Australia Rail infrastructure in New South Wales