Asciano, Australia's largest port and rail operator, signed a 10-year coal haulage contract with a unit of Anglo American Plc.

Anglo Coal agreed to ship as much as 5.75 million tonnes of coal a year from the Moranbah North mine in Queensland starting in the year from July 1, Melbourne-based Asciano said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange.

Asciano remains very confident in the long term coal export opportunities for Australia and understands how important our performance is to all parts of the coal supply chain, Chief Executive Officer Mark Rowsthorn said.