BBI draws up Gladstone stake shortlist
Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) owner Babcock & Brown Infrastructure (BBI) has drawn up a shortlist for a selling a stake in the terminal.
BBI is struggling to reduce debt and therefore is offloading strategic assets globally, including interests in Euroports and PD Ports.
The company has indicated it would prefer a minority stake sale in DBCT but has also decided to offer formal due diligence process to a short list of interested parties.
A consortium of Queensland coalminers is reportedly hoping to take full control of the operation.
How BBI responds will depend on the progress of the sales process for assets in Europe and Western Australia.
In related news, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has opposed the continuation of Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal’s Queue Management System (QMS).
The system was originally designed to address large ship queues and the demand placed on coal loading services at DBCT and the Goonyella coal chain in Queensland. However, the commission said reduced forecasts of coal demand and demurrage savings had reduced the need for the QMS. It prefers to focus on a longer-term solution to congestion.
