Ports and rail operator Asciano Group
(ASX:AIO) has secured a coal haulage contract in Queensland.
The company says it has signed a 10 year agreement with Anglo American Metallurgical Coal for the movement of 16.5 million tonnes a year of coal in Queensland, starting in January 2012.
The contract is expected to generate revenue of over $775 million, and will see Asciano Group hauling 10.9 million tonnes per annum from Anglo American’s German Creek facility which is currently serviced by QRNational.
The company says the new contract also encompasses the existing 5.75 million tonnes that Pacific National currently hauls from Anglo American’s Moranbah North mine.
Asciano says it anticipates that it will have hauled 14 million tonnes of coal in QLD when it completes its first full year of operations in the state, at the end of this month.
The company says it will acquire four new train sets to service the additional volumes for Anglo American Coal, which is now Asciano’s largest contracted customer in Queensland.
Asciano Group posted a loss of $246.44 million in fiscal 2009, a wider loss than the year before.
