Hunter Valley Coal Chain

The HVCC mainly deals in the sea-borne export coal trade, especially to Asia (Japan and Korea in particular).

HVCCC coordinates the resources of port operators Newcastle Port Corporation, terminal operators Port Waratah Coal Services and Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group, railway operators Aurizon, Pacific National and One Rail Australia, railway infrastructure managers Australian Rail Track Corporation and Producers.

The majority of Australian coal was traditionally sold to Japanese steel mills or power utilities in accordance with long-term contracts.

The Japanese steel mills, operating in a co-ordinated manner and collectively known as the "JSM", negotiated prices for coking coal.

East of Maitland the line is formed of four tracks with the southern pair exclusively for the use of coal trains with an underpass at Hanbury west of Waratah allowing trains to reach Port Waratah without having to interface with the northern pair of tracks.

In 2006 the Sandgate Flyover was opened to similarly allow trains to access Kooragang Island.

[7][8][9] Aurizon, East Coast Rail and Pacific National both provide locomotives and freight wagons to operate coal trains.

But while Australia has an abundance of coal and a ravenous world market, particularly in Asia (especially China, with its expanding need for coal in the steel industry), willing to devour it is disadvantaged by the distance that must be overcome to get the product to the market and the huge number of players involved.

It is for this reason that the supply chain must run as smoothly as possible, moving the raw product from the mines, to the port and onto the ships no easy task.

Freight bottlenecks rapidly developed, primarily at the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal and at Newcastle's Port Waratah.

The Port Waratah model allocates production from the mines to available shipping in a way that maximises the capacity of the terminal.