Aurizon lifts coal haulage target

摘要

Australian rail firm Aurizon has increased its forecast coal haulage volumes to 220mn-230mn t for the 2019-20 fiscal year ending 30 June, after transporting 214.3mn t in 2017-18, as it continues to see firm demand for Australian coal. Aurizon missed the bottom of its 215mn-220mn t guidance for 2018-19 because of wet weather, supply chain constraints and industrial action. But it hauled a record monthly total of 20.4mn t in June that converts to an annualised rate of 248mn t, while it reached a new enterprise agreement with its unionised workforce in July. The firm also hit record volumes of 21.5mn t in June over the Central Queensland Coal Network (CQCN) that it operates. Total haulage across Aurizon's CQCN by all rail operators, which includes Australian rail firm Pacific National and coking coal mining joint venture BHP Mitsubishi Alliance, was 116.2mn t for January-June, down slightly from 116.5mn t for July-December, but up from 113mn t in January-July 2018. Haulage was relatively high in January-June, given that this period is usually affected by the wet season in Queensland and is partially related to Aurizon raising throughput having reached an in principle tariff agreement with CQCN customers that gave it confidence to return to a more flexible maintenance regime.