PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Global demand for coal sourced from New South Wales remains strong, with new data released by industry-owned Coal Services indicating an 8% increase in exports during 2013/14.

New South Wales exported about 167-million tonnes of coal in the financial year, up from the 155-million reported in the previous financial year.

“Coal is our state’s most valuable export commodity so it’s good news for the New South Wales economy that demand for coal is growing steadily across all our main export markets,” New South Wales Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said.
 
Demand for New South Wales coal in Japan rose by 1.7% in 2013/14, while demand in Korea increased 8.7%, and in Taiwan demand climbed by 14%. China’s demand for New South Wales coal has increased by 22% over the last financial year, sustaining its position as the second-largest market for the state’s coal exports.

Galilee noted that the Chinese demand for New South Wales coal has had significant growth over the last six years, adding that in 2007/8, only 1.1% of the state’s coal exports were going to China. 

However, China now accounted for 23% of all coal exports from New South Wales, second only to Japan. 

Japan accounts of 43% of coal exports from the state, with Korea accounting for 16%, Taiwan for 10% and the rest of Asia accounting for 6%.

Galilee pointed out that coal was the state’s single most valuable merchandise export, contributing 20% of all exports leaving the state by value, including goods and services.

“New South Wales coal mining has been doing it tough with over 4 000 job losses in the last two years and a broken planning system. It is, therefore, encouraging to see demand for New South Wales coal rising significantly across our major and emerging markets,” Galilee said.

“Steady growth in exports to our long-term markets of Japan, Korea and Taiwan combined with a strong increase in exports to the emerging market of China signal good news for the industry, provided we get the policy settings right here in New South Wales.”

Galilee said that the state government’s recent commitment to halve planning assessment timeframes for major mining projects would build on these positive export figures and help attract investment and create jobs in the state.

In November, Premier Mike Baird revealed that in the next term of government, the Planning Assessment Commission would be given direction on how to implement government policies when reviewing mining projects for approval, adding that under the current system, major mining projects could take more than 1 000 days to process.