Australia's Newcastle coal port to reopen after storm

* World's top coal exporting port to reopen

* Newcastle port was closed as mega-storm battered Australia (Adds comment, detail)

MELBOURNE, April 23 (Reuters) - Australia's Newcastle port, the world's biggest marine coal export terminal, said it would reopen later on Thursday after shutting earlier this week due to a heavy storm.

Australia's biggest coal companies, including BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) Ltd , Glencore Plc (Xetra: A1JAGV - news) , Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) , Peabody Energy Corp (NYSE: BTU - news) and China's Yancoal Australia Ltd, rely on the port.

A number of outbound vessel movements were planned this afternoon, subject to final assessment of each movement by the Newcastle harbour master, the port said in a statement.

Prices for coal cargoes delivered next month from Newcastle have soared more than 10 percent since the beginning of the week to $70.40 a tonne as traders expected export delays due to the storm.

"As soon as the port reopens, operations will be back to normal," said Chris Ford, a spokesman for terminal operator Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG).

A cyclone-strength storm battered Australia's east coast on Tuesday and Wednesday killing four people, washing away houses, and stranding a cruise ship off the coast in mountainous seas. (Reporting by Sonali Paul and James Regan; Editing by Joseph Radford)