PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Ten coal producers, including Anglo American, Glencore, Peabody, Yancoal and the BHP Mitsubishi alliance have applied to join the judicial review application started by freight operator Aurizon against the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) in the Supreme Court of Queensland.

Aurizon in April applied for the judicial review of the QCA’s Draft Decision on the 2017 Draft Access Undertaking for the company’s Central Queensland Coal Network (CQCN) on the basis of apprehended bias.

The company said at the time that the Draft Decision had been affected by legal error, since the QCA did not afford procedural fairness to Aurizon, due to QCA chairperson Professor Roy Green’s conflict of interest.

Green is also the chairperson of the Port of Newcastle, in New South Wales, which is part of the Hunter Valley coal supply chain.

Aurizon has warned that the movement of up to 20-million tonnes of coal a year was in jeopardy as a result of the Draft Decision, with up to ten-million tonnes a year lost from the Goonyella line, up to eight-million tonnes a year from the Blackwater line, up to 1.5-million tonnes a year from the Moura line and up to 300 000 t a year from the Newlands line.

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) on Tuesday revealed that the coal producers took the decision to apply to join the judicial review, as they had an interest in the application and the process giving rise to the QCA’s Draft Decision and the outcome of the QCA’s final decision.

It is not yet known when the coal producers’ application will be heard by the Court.

The QRC has on numerous occasions called on Aurizon not to cut train movements on the CQCN, warning that the cut to coal exports could result in a A$4-billion decline in Queensland’s coal exports, and a A$500-million decline in the state’s yearly royalty intake.

Japanese buyers have reportedly expressed their concern around the proposed cuts to exports, with steelmakers warning the state government that they would pursue other sources if the conflict was not resolved.