PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has encouraged investors into the Queensland coal market, saying that the window for opportunity in the sector was wide open.

Speaking at the ninth Coaltrans Australia conference, in Brisbane, QRC CEO Michael Roche noted that despite political opinions to the contrary, official forecasts indicated that the current oversupply in the coal market would be overtaken by a strong growth in demand.

“There has never been a better time this century in terms of being able to contain costs for a greenfield project. The competition for skilled labour is much diminished and pencils have been sharpened across the supply chain,” Roche said.

“This is the time for a smart midtier coal company to win over the financiers and make their mark in Queensland.”

Roche warned, however, that while the development opportunities were present in the state, the actual development of a coal project could be challenging.

“Its not going to be easy, but let's face it – it never has been. If it was easy, everyone would own a coal mine.”

Roche pointed out that several of the current coal miners were in “survival mode”, with companies employing cost reductions in an effort to combat lower commodity prices.

Since May last year, an estimated 8 000 jobs have been lost in the Queensland coal industry, he added.

“What we have to do now is adjust for the production phase and get our Australian industry in the best possible shape to compete for the next phase of investment. Yes, the global market is oversupplied with coal, but all the official forecasts show that this oversupply will be overtaken in time by a strong growth in demand,” Roche said.

He noted that the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics has predicted that world demand for thermal coal would increase by 46% relative to 2010 figures, while global consulting firm Wood Mackenzie had forecast that global thermal coal demand would increase by 4.4% yearly, driven by demand from China.