Queensland floods to create more damage and cut exports

05 Jan 2011

Source:  Wall Street Journal
Floods devastating large areas of Australia's Queensland state will worsen in the coming days, with more damage expected across the continent, authorities warned Friday.

Heavy rains and flooding in central Queensland have cut coal production and exports from the region.
The floods have forced many of the biggest miners including BHP BillitonLtd., Rio TintoLtd. and Anglo American PLC to stop production and cancel deliveries.

Oil and iron-ore facilities on the northwest coast scrambled to shut down ahead of a tropical cyclone due over the weekend. Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and Apache Corp. separately announced the closure of oil fields, while ports accounting for a third of the global trade in iron ore were battening down. The Port of Bundaberg has been closed to commercial shipping indefinitely, while the coal supply chain to other ports operated by the Gladstone Ports Corp. stopped due to extensive flooding. The port is now able to load only from existing stockpiles, acting chief executive Craig Walker said in a statement Friday.

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