Queensland Cuts Coal Output Forecast 10.5% on Floods

Queensland cut its annual steelmaking-coal output forecast by 10.5 percent and said it expects resumption of normal mining to take as long three months after floods in Australia, the biggest exporter of the fuel.

Coking-coal output in the 12 months ended June 30 is forecast to be 177.3 million metric tons, down from an initial projection of 198 million tons, Mines and Energy Minister Stephen Robertson said in a telephone interview. That compares with 182.1 million in the year ended June 30, 2010.