PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal exports from Queensland set a new record in June this year, with 21.43-million tonnes of metallurgical and thermal coal exported during the month, the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) revealed on Thursday.
QRC CEO Ian Macfarlane said the 11% increase on the same month last year highlighted the increasing demand from world markets for Queensland’s coal.
“Queensland’s coal is the commodity of choice with our high quality thermal coal needed to power high efficient, low emissions coal-fired power plants in Asia, and our metallurgical coal, used to make steel, is building the bridges and skyscrapers in modern cities.”
Queensland’s exports from all resources earned over A$70-billion for the 12 months to May this year, representing 81% of the state’s record export earnings of A$85.8-billion.
In dollar terms, exports from the resources sector, including coal, minerals and gas, are worth more than A$190-million every day, Macfarlane noted.
“The 215 000 men and women working across Queensland’s coal industry can be proud of this achievement and it means more jobs and more revenue for Queensland.”
In the last financial year, Queensland’s resources sector paid a record A$5.2-billion in royalty taxes with coal contributing A$4-billion to the government to help build new schools, hospitals and roads.
“But if we are to support jobs at home and export to the world it is essential that we have stable and reliable regulation for our resources sector in order to attract new investment which benefits every Queenslander. People want industry and government to work together with communities and wider society to promote effective, constructive, and mutually beneficial relationships,” Macfarlane said.