Russian coal mining company Mechel is commissioning a new coal terminal at Port Posiet in Russia’s Primorye region. The $128 million port upgrade will enable the company to significantly enhance Asia-Pacific exports; industrial operation will begin in Q2 2014. The first stage includes revamping coal loading capabilities to handle 7 million metric tons a year (mtpy). The upgrade will allow the port to load 28,000 mtpd of coal. The equipment was provided by the ThyssenKrupp AG, which is overseeing start-up and commissioning. The second stage includes construction of a deep-water berth and bottom dredging of the approach channel for Panamax-type vessels of up to 60,000-mt cargo capacity; Primorye borders China and North Korea and faces the Sea of Japan.
Russia’s Volga Group has acquired a 50% stake in Sukhodol LLC, the company that is constructing the new bulk terminal at Sukhodol Bay in Russia’s Primorsk territory. The group said that, when completed, the terminal should have a capacity of 20 million mt per year, and it will also be used to export coal to Asia-Pacific markets. Volga said that construction of the first stage of the terminal is scheduled to be completed by 2016. The second and third stages are scheduled to take place between 2019 and 2021.