Glencore (LON:GLEN) announced some "short-term" delays in its coking coal shipments from Queensland's Bowen basin in Australia, after a derailment that took place over the weekend.

Aurizon, Australia's largest rail freight operator, said in a statement that there was major infrastructure damage as a result of the derailment, which occurred 120 kilometres south of the Abbot Point export terminal. The company hopes to restart services by September 19.

As a consequence, the Swiss-based mining and trading giant has been having difficulties in getting coal from its Newlands mine to port this week.

The situation could add further heat to prices that have nearly doubled since the start of August. Coking coal is used primarily to heat iron ore during steel making.

BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP), which operates coal mines in the Bowen region, also issued a statement saying that any impact on its operations would be reported in its next quarterly review.

Published Date:2016-09-16