POPULAR WORDS

September 25, 2009

Xstrata Coal has announced it will commence its own haulage service in the Hunter Valley in 2011, directly competing with Pacific National and Queensland Rail.

Xstrata spokesman James Rickards says the decision to invest in rail fits in with new transport plans at the Port of Newcastle.

“This purchase complements the recently announced port access arrangements at Port Waratah Coal Services and we are looking forward to working with port and track service providers to further increase the capacity of the Hunter Valley coal chain,” Rickards says.

“By investing directly into the Hunter Valley coal chain, we are providing greater security of supply for our customers.”

A spokesperson for Asciano, Pacific National's parent company, says the contract it has with Xstrata will continue and that the threat of a new haulage company in the Hunter is not a concern.

“Pacific National signed a contract with Xstrata recently to haul the majority of their coal over the next 10 years to Newcastle and their decision to acquire three train sets does not impact the contracts in place with Pacific National in both NSW and Queensland,” the spokesperson says.

“We [Asciano] understand that the train sets have been purchased to exclusively service a proportion of Xstrata’s growth volumes and is the result of Xstrata’s requirement to diversify their supply chain risk.”