Little more than a day after coal shipments recommenced on part of Queensland's extensive coal railway network, flooding forced the shutdown of operations on the Blackwater coal rail system, Aurizon confirmed at the weekend.
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Most coal shipments through Queensland ports remain suspended apart from exports through Gladstone, as miners and railway operators continue to assess the impact of Cyclone Debbie.
The insurance bill has already been put at more than $1 billion, although widespread flooding through parts of Queensland and northern NSW is expected to push the bill higher in the coming weeks.
Late last week, the sugar cane industry put a figure of $150 million as an initial estimate of the cost of the cyclone damage on the sugar crop, which begins harvesting in a few months' time.
"In the hardest hit districts of Proserpine, Mackay and Plane Creek we have seen 100 per cent of the crop damaged in some way by the cyclone - bent over, uprooted and snapped," the chief executive of Sugarcane, Dan Galligan said.
Surveys are indicating cane losses of up to 35 per cent in the Proserpine region ($50 million), 20 per cent across the Mackay region ($81 million) and 20 per cent in Plane Creek ($18 million), according to the organisation.
For the coal industry, the disruption from the cyclone is expected to push prices higher, although until miners have a clearer idea of when shipments can resume, spot trading is expected to remain suspended.
Late last week, spot steaming coal prices for shipments through the port of Newcastle were marked higher, rising to around $US81 a tonne, up around $US2 a tonne, on small volumes, according to McCloskey, an industry newsletter. The supply disruption for coal shipped from Queensland will delay the resumption of talks for June quarter contract coking coal exports into north Asia, as miners assess the impact of the cyclone on mines and also transport links.
Aurizon late last week said coal was again being transported on the Blackwater coal rail system with extensive speed restrictions, but flooding at the Dawson River, approximately 85 kilometres west of Rockhampton, forced it to halt all movements again from Saturday afternoon.
The three other Queensland coal rail systems of Newlands, Goonyella and Moura, all remain closed to rail traffic, it said, as assessments continue.
"Road and rail access is severely restricted to many parts of the rail network," it said in a statement.
The company said it would provide estimated recovery times for each of the respective coal rail systems to customers once it has a clearer idea of their status.
Earlier, Aurizon had said initial assessments would be by air, with ground conditions hampering more detailed assessments.
