Australia''s Newcastle coal port is looking at riding the downturn by an investment strategy which could potentially double the ports capacity.
Proposed by the New South Wales government, the plan aims to solidify the port's baseline activity by stimulating investment through long-term terminal contracts.
Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) - a longstanding inhabitant of the Newcastle port - sees the plan as being the answer to "a multitude of inefficiencies" that have dogged the port's development. As PWCS chairwoman Professor Eileen Doyle explains, the framework should result in a balance "giving existing miners the certainty they need to invest in infrastructure and increase output, and giving new entrants the certainty they need to access the port".
The measures (which are a blend of recommendations by former New South Wales premier Nick Greiner and key requirements of the New South Wales government as well as the coal industry itself), go beyond structuring terminal contracts to create a secure foundation for investment along the coal chain, to include giving PWCS the opportunity to lease additional government land and build a fourth coal loading terminal on Kooragang Island, one of two coal loading terminals located on either side of the South Channel of the Hunter River.
They also include a mechanism whereby a producer's intention to expand triggers new infrastructure to be built and the possibility of a pro-rata levy on exports to cover the cost of any terminal expansion shortfalls.
