McCloskey Coal News reported the company had also secured a new contract with Tata Steel, a subsidiary of India’s largest private company, to supply 300,000t of coal, worth an estimated $US24 million over three years.

“We regard India as a long-term market and are a small but unique and high quality supplier to it. We hope to increase the volumes we sell into India and, at this stage, we are looking for new mines so we can do so. Though there is still plenty of coal at Stockton there is a limit to amount we can transport through the rail network to Lyttelton and this is currently a constraint,” Malcolm Roberts, Solid Energy’s marketing manager was quoted as saying.