HVCCLT chairman Graham Davidson said this represents a continued strong growth on the 85Mtpa of capacity made available to the coal industry so far this year.

The increased forecast capacity follows the completion of a number of new investments in rail infrastructure and additional trains, along with the terminal expansion already underway at Port Waratah Coal Services.

“With the completion of the additional stockpiling facilities at PWCS, the delivery of additional trains by Pacific National and some ARTC rail track infrastructure, the coal chain capacity would approach the mid 90Mt level by the end of 2007,” Davidson said.

“This will help to support continued strong growth in the region’s coal export industry, and secure the Port of Newcastle’s position as a world leader in the supply of high quality coal.”

The ongoing strong demand for Hunter Valley coal is being highlighted by the mines’ latest forecast of vessel arrivals for November.

With 7.9Mt of vessels forecast to arrive during November, compared to 6.2Mt of coal chain capacity, the vessel queue is anticipated to grow to over 40 vessels.

During October the vessel queue was reduced from 42 to an estimated 27 by month end.

Davidson said the 6.2Mt of coal chain capacity for November was lower than average due to six days of planned ARTC track work, including the commissioning of a new flyover at Sandgate.

The Sandgate flyover, which provides separate train tracks for coal and passenger trains, has been under construction for the past 12 months and is due for completion in mid November.

“This is an essential part of the overall investment in coal chain infrastructure in the Hunter Valley and its temporary impact on capacity has been planned and notified to the industry for more than a year,” Davidson said.