(Adds detail on scheduled re-openings)
SYDNEY, April 7 (Reuters) - Australian rail operator Aurizon Holdings Ltd AZJ.AX said on Friday that repair work will take longer than expected on its cyclone damaged Blackwater coal haulage line and would reopen on Monday at reduced capacity.
Multiple landslides and flooding knocked out the rail network when Cyclone Debbie ripped through the state of Queensland, a major coking coal mine area, last week. The cutoff in exports of coking coal, a key steelmaking ingredient, has left steelmakers in China, the world's biggest producer, scrambling for supplies, even looking as far as the United States. is the second-busiest coal line in the area after Goonyella, which is expected to be out for another four weeks, Aurizon said.
"Recovery and repairs are being undertaken at multiple sites along the Goonyella corridor, including at Black Mountain which experienced significant landslides," it said.
Queensland accounts for more than 50 percent of global seaborne coking coal supplies, with prices rising on fears that stockpiles held by steelmakers will start to run down. note was the first update it has provided to the market since Monday. It had previously forecast Blackwater to come back on line this week, while there is no change to the Goonyella time table. The much smaller Newlands and Moura rail networks are expected to be operational next week.
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