That is the view of 61% of industry professionals surveyed in an Australian Mining online survey.
The survey was run over eight weeks on Australian Mining’s new premier mining website www.miningaustralia.com.au.
The result highlights the industry’s frustration as coal supply chain bottlenecks cause headaches for mining companies in the Hunter Valley and Bowen Basin.
It is little surprise that the mining community is pessimistic about coal supply chain infrastructure, given the mass sackings that occurred in central-Queensland in August.
Macarthur Coal sacked three quarters of its workforce, and Anglo Coal sacked 50 miners in central Queensland, both companies blaming bottlenecks for its coal stockpile.
Queensland Resources Council CEO Michael Roche said infrastructure changes may take several years to make a difference to current constraints.
“We all know that projects of the magnitude required to address the problems can’t be delivered with the wave of a magic wand, so there is, sadly, no alternative path to longer-term gains for central Queensland,” Roche said.