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# April 06, 2010 12:00AM
ACUTE bottlenecks at Australia's coal export terminals have pushed the number of ships delayed at the country's ports to a record of 223, creating a trade logjam estimated to cost the country as much as eight million tonnes in lost exports, and tens of millions of dollars in additional shipping charges.

Some 103 bulk carriers alone are anchored at cyclone-affected coking coal terminals at Dalrymple Bay and Hay Point in Queensland, creating a 50-day queue that has pushed port congestion levels to fresh highs, according to US-based maritime consultancy Commodore Research & Consultancy.

Most of the 223 ships were waiting at east coast coal ports, with numbers doubling over the past month and now 13 more than the record of 210 set at the end of December, said Commodore Research director Jeffrey Landsberg.

The unresolved logistics logjam constraining Australian coalmining exports over the past seven years was "frustrating", said Rio Tinto, which ships 150 million tonnes of bulk commodities annually, and is one the largest users of privately owned Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal and Port Waratah Coal Services at Newcastle.

"It's a complex situation with a lot of users trying to move maximum tonnes over a fairly constrained system," said London-based Rio Tinto Marine general manager Alastair Fischbacher, who co-ordinates charters for up to 60 to 70 bulk carriers at a time.

Record port congestion comes despite a major terminal expansion completed at Dalrymple Bay eight months ago to take annual capacity to 85 million tonnes, and the opening of a third $1 billion coal port terminal for Newcastle which began shipments two weeks ago.

Shipping queues in Australia have steadily worsened since September last year when the return of traditional coal buyers such as Japan and South Korea coincided with a doubling in Chinese demand, testing already struggling rail and port infrastructure.

At Dalrymple Bay, the declaration of force majeure by coal miners after cyclone Uliu meant delays had stretched to 40 to 50 days, according to the British-based Global Port Congestion Index.

Australian port congestion is now more than three times higher than levels in China.