AUSTRALIA's Port of Newcastle (PoN) is mulling plans to develop a new container terminal to enable agricultural exporters in New South Wales to save A$10-$15 (US$7-$11) per tonne on grain that is currently shipped out of the ports of Botany and Brisbane.
The site at Mayfield has been leased by the NSW government to PoN, which administers 800 hectares of land, reported Grain Central online.
Negotiations with DP World, which operates one of port Botany's three container terminals, to operate the Newcastle facility have concluded amicably. The design has been completed and officials are now moving into planning approvals and a more detailed design.
Strategic development manager Ian Doherty said: 'We are designing a container terminal with wharf, berth and landside capacity to be able to accommodate ULCVs [ultra large containerships] carrying more than 10,000 TEU from stage one,' Mr Doherty said.
'From day one, we plan to be handling trains of 1.3-1.5 kilometres in length and future-proofing the network by giving it scope to take 1.8-kilometre trains, which is longer than ARTC can handle today.'
He added: 'Demand for a container terminal has never been greater.'
The GrowerCo cooperative has been open in its support of a container terminal in Newcastle, and Boolah Commodity Management principal and GrowerCo member director Stuart Tighe said the proposed terminal offered significant savings to agricultural exporters.
The terminal proposes to operate two 800 metre berths and one 400 metre berth for visiting ships. Construction, which is expected to take up to two years, is not expected to commence before 2021, which gives the PoN container terminal an earliest opening date in 2023.
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The site at Mayfield has been leased by the NSW government to PoN, which administers 800 hectares of land, reported Grain Central online.
Negotiations with DP World, which operates one of port Botany's three container terminals, to operate the Newcastle facility have concluded amicably. The design has been completed and officials are now moving into planning approvals and a more detailed design.
Strategic development manager Ian Doherty said: 'We are designing a container terminal with wharf, berth and landside capacity to be able to accommodate ULCVs [ultra large containerships] carrying more than 10,000 TEU from stage one,' Mr Doherty said.
'From day one, we plan to be handling trains of 1.3-1.5 kilometres in length and future-proofing the network by giving it scope to take 1.8-kilometre trains, which is longer than ARTC can handle today.'
He added: 'Demand for a container terminal has never been greater.'
The GrowerCo cooperative has been open in its support of a container terminal in Newcastle, and Boolah Commodity Management principal and GrowerCo member director Stuart Tighe said the proposed terminal offered significant savings to agricultural exporters.
The terminal proposes to operate two 800 metre berths and one 400 metre berth for visiting ships. Construction, which is expected to take up to two years, is not expected to commence before 2021, which gives the PoN container terminal an earliest opening date in 2023.
WORLD SHIPPING