The Australian Bureau of Agricultaure and Resourse Economics has...

The Australian Bureau of Agricultaure and Resourse Economics has predicted a sharp rise in exports of black coal from Australia in 2007. In a report dealing with likely movements in the export coal markets from 2005-2025, the Bureau expects coal exports to top 300MT in 2007, this compares with 233Mt in 2005, and the likelihood of only a marginal increase in the 2005 levels for the current calander year. This is basically a sudden 30% jump in output as the first round of major infrastructure works at Gladstone, Hay point, Dalrymple bay, and Newcastle coal ports along with upgrades to rail supply infrastructure come on stream. a second round of upgrades involving a new terminal at Gladstone, another new terminal at Newcastle, along with construction of the Northern and southern missing rail links in the Bowen Basin in QLD provide the potential for a further spectacular growth in export volumes to occurr around the end of the decade.

CHL who perform coal testing work is very profit sensitive to rising levels of export coal. 2007 and beyond looks to be a very exciting period for this company which is brilliantly positioned to benefit from these favourable market fundamentals.