Australia’s rain will become India’s pain as coal flows halt

By Clyde Russell | Reuters

Heavy rains and the worst floods in 50 years have shut the world’s largest coal-export harbour, but the impact from the closure of Australia’s Newcastle port is likely to hit hardest in India.

Rainfall of more than 1 metre (3.3 feet) in places in the past few days, and the threat of more to come, led to the shutdown of railways from coal mines in the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney, and the coal loaders at Newcastle Port, which shipped some 158 million tonnes of the fuel last year.

The bulk of the coal shipped from Newcastle is high-grade thermal coal used in power plants, along with smaller volumes of some grades of coal used to make steel…Full Story