Australia's worsening floods crisis impacting coal, agriculture

[SYDNEY] Flooding in Australia's eastern states showed no sign of abating on Tuesday, leading to further evacuations and impacting industries including coal and agriculture.

Overnight there were 870 rescue operations in New South Wales state, as dams overflowed and catchments flooded. Sydney is forecast to receive up to another 90 millimetres (3.5 inches) of rain on Tuesday, A further 15,000 people may be evacuated today, after 18,000 people were forced to leave their homes on Monday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters. The rain is forecast to ease on Wednesday, but Ms Berejiklian warned "the rivers will keep rising." "There are massive water flows impacting catchments and the height of rivers," she said.

Southern areas of neighboring Queensland state are also on flood watch.

The drenching comes as some parts of Australia are still recovering from the catastrophic bushfires of last summer that burned more than 6 million acres, and wiped out communities.

Disruptions to freight and logistics services are impacting fresh produce supplies and have also hampered Australia's rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Heavy rainfall has also disrupted coal production in the Hunter Valley region, and reduced shipments from the Port of Newcastle, a key coal terminal. Production at two of Yancoal Australia Ltd's open-cut coal mines has been suspended, a spokesman for the company said.

Australian thermal coal rose 4.3 per cent on Monday to close at its highest level in two years. Coal in Europe and China hit two-month highs.

BLOOMBERG