ABSTRACT
The capacity problems that this caused were conveniently solved by the development of the coal industry from the United Kingdom (UK) to the extent that the “coals out/grain back” trade from and to the UK became a staple part of the routine of many shipowners. The Australian coal export industry faced with these problems, including the switch from coal to oil bunkers, effectively withered away and lay dormant until shortly after the Second World War. It was a natural development, therefore, that when these same countries began to convert to coal from oil for electricity and cement generation, they should turn to their established coking coal supplier as the logical thermal coal provider. The spectacular growth in Australian exports since the early 1960s has been shown to be a combination of circumstance, location, opportunity and availability. Thermal coal exports by destination have, by and large, mirrored the trends of metallurgical coal.
