Wow, I did not realise how much other countries depend on Australian coal for power generation, and particularly metallurgical coal for steel production: http://www.thetradingreport.com/201...n-floods-impact-the-global-commodity-markets/
To be precise, they only depend on our poor negotiating skills and underselling our commodities. Other countries have coking coal deposits...they just refuse to sell at such cheap prices as us. Regardless of the floods, they'll get their coal... it just won't be from us... or at so cheap a price (and I don't mean cheap as in not-expensive).
I would be more concerned about the loss of wheat crops. Media reports always seem to either overstate or understate the facts, not sure which it is here
Absolutely. Many countries are sitting on stockpiles of minerals, but whilst Aussie is willing to sell on the cheap, why not take advantage of the market?
There is a stockpile of coal at Gladstone so overseas shipments should be OK for a short period of time. It is to be hoped for the state of the Qld economy that the mines can get back into production soon. The rail lines from the mines have also suffered damage which may slow down the tonnage arriving at Gladstone. It has been reported that the state could loose $10M a day in lost royalties. The state will no doubt suffer as income falls and expenditure in repairing flood damage soars . Regards Errol43
If they can jack up the price of fruit to aussies, they can jack up the price of coal to the chinese.
