Coal Quality

The Australian coal industry produces a wide range of coals and has the flexibility to tailor products to suit customer requirements. Although coal is a natural product, many producers can vary product specifications by selective mining, blending or by changing parameters at preparation plants.

Facilities are available at a number of coal terminals to blend coals from different mines or producers. State-of-the-art handling equipment and sophisticated operating procedures ensure even blending of products before being loaded into ships.

Independent, highly respected superintending laboratories test and certify both weight and quality of all export consignments at loading ports. They usually perform a range of standard tests, but additional tests to suit the requirements of individual customers can be carried out. Automatic samplers and sample-splitting techniques are used to ensure test results are representative of the whole cargo.

Australia has an excellent record of meeting contracted specifications, as demonstrated in a number of independent surveys, including those of the Japanese Iron and Steel Federation. These surveys of metallurgical coal from some forty mines in six countries regularly assign an 'AA' rating to more Australian brands than to those from other countries. This means average assays for ash and moisture are within specifications and there is a low variation in quality between shipments.

See also the related topic: Shiploading and Blending