Melbourne (Platts)--21Nov2012/701 am EST/1201 GMT

Australian QR National's coal haulage volume dropped in the first four months of fiscal 2012-13 ending October, compared to the prior four months, after a slowdown in the country's resources sector and China's economy, but it is confident of a recovery by the end of the fiscal year, the freight company said Wednesday.

At its annual general meeting in Brisbane Wednesday, QR National said that the level of investment in Australia's resources sector will pave the way for a new phase in the resources boom, leading to a rise in its haulage volume.

The next phase of the resources boom was supported by "strong and sustained growth in export volumes rather than high commodity prices," QR National said.

"We believe that while we will continue to see headwinds in the short term, the fundamentals of global resource demand remain unchanged, that growth is long-term and sustainable, and that Australian resources can remain competitive," QR National's CEO Lance Hockridge said at the AGM.

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QR National is focused on growth plans, and the key areas of growth for thermal, coking coal and iron ore will be in Bowen Basin and the emerging Surat and Galilee Basins in Queensland, the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, the mid-west, Pilbara and Yilgarn in Western Australia.

For the first four months of fiscal 2012-13, QR National's coal haulage was 1% lower than the prior comparable period, with Queensland tonnages down 4% and New South Wales tonnages up 15%.

Overall freight volumes were up 2% on a year-to-date basis at the end of October -- including substantial increases in iron ore volumes, up 75% on the prior comparable period. No breakdown of exact figures were provided.

Going forward, QR National expects the softer demand environment to continue over the near-term and it estimates its full year haulage for the year ending June 2013 will be in the range of 195 million-205 million mt, up from 186 million mt in fiscal 2011-12.

--Marnie Hobson, marnie_hobson@platts.com
--Edited by Geetha Narayanasamy, geetha_narayanasamy@platts.com

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