New Zealand's Lyttelton Port lifted force majeure on coal shipments from state coal miner Solid Energy.

The company said that force majeure was imposed after the port's facilities were damaged in the Feb 22 earthquake, which struck the country's second biggest city Christchurch.

The port company, which exports around 2 million tonnes of coal annually said the lifting of the notice was conditional. It said that "LPC is not able to currently meet the minimum loading rates and the minimum depth alongside the berth that are set out in the coal handling agreement.”

State owned Solid Energy had also declared a force majeure notice to its export customers.

Force majeure is a contractual clause that allows companies to miss deliveries because of circumstances beyond their control.

(Sourced from Reuters)