UPDATE: Newcastle Port Coal Capacity To Rise 25% By 2013
August 09 2010 - 10:20PM
Dow Jones News
Capacity at the world's largest coal export port will increase
25% to 180 million tons a year by 2013, a group leading the upgrade
of terminal facilities at the Australian port of Newcastle said
Tuesday.
Construction will begin immediately on the second stage of a
third export terminal at the port in New South Wales state, the
Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group said in a statement.
That would allow for an expansion to 180 million tons for the
entire port, which currently handles 143 million tons per year.
Infrastructure bottlenecks are a major issue for Australian
mining companies, particularly in Newcastle's Hunter region and the
Bowen Basin in Queensland state.
The second stage will boost capacity at the terminal to 53
million tons a year, NCIG said.
Around 30 million tons a year currently passes through the first
stage of NCIG's terminal, which opened in May.
The Carrington and Kooragang terminals operated by Port Waratah
Coal Services Ltd. handle 113 million tons per annum, and there are
plans to increase capacity to 123.6 million tons in 2012 following
the announcement of a A$670 million expansion plan in February.
Michael Egan, NCIG's chairman, said that spending on upgrading
the coal infrastructure in the area had helped the Newcastle region
cope with the global downturn.
"I've no doubt that one of the reasons this region weathered the
effects of the global financial crisis so well is because of this
massive infrastructure effort, and that flow-on effect is set to
continue for the next two to three years," he said.
NCIG said financing for the A$900 million NCIG construction
project had now been agreed, with the project set to employ 600
people over the next two years.
NCIG is a consortium of miners including BHP Billiton Ltd.
(BHP.AU), Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU), Centennial Coal Co. Ltd.,
(CEY.AU), Whitehaven Coal Ltd. (WHC.AU), Yanzhou Coal Mining Co.
Ltd. (YZC) subsidiary Yancoal and Noble Group Ltd. (N21.SG)
subsidiary Donaldson Coal.
-By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 2 8272 4689;
david.fickling@dowjones.com
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