Coal Loading Capacity at Newcastle Could Reach 300 million mt

According to The Herald, PWCS General Manager Graham Davidson said coal companies had signed take or pay contracts to ship more than 145 million mt through its two terminals in 2015, triggering plans to have the port’s fourth or T4 terminal, operating on Kooragang by 2015. BHP backed Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group has built stage one of its terminal, the port’s third, on Kooragang, and is expanding its capacity to 53 million mtpy, on the way to its approved capacity of 66 million mt. Davidson said the T4 plans were yet to go to the PWCS board, but he expected to ask for more than $200 million in funds to build a T4 first stage capable of handling 29 million mtpy. At full capacity, the four Newcastle terminals would be able to ship more than 300 million mtpy.