The Port of Abbot Point, already a force among Australian bulk ports, has drawn significant interest in a massive project to make it one of the largest coal ports in the world.
Requests for expressions of interest for an additional four terminals at the port 25km north of Bowen, in Queensland, closed on 1 August.
Abbot Point is managed by North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation (NQBP), the driving force behind the major projects already undertaken or under way at the port.
NQBP chief executive officer Brad Fish said there had been a strong response to the opportunity.
“The decision to develop plans for four additional separate tranches, each nominally 30mtpa [million tonnes per annum] of coal terminal capacity, came following demand from the coal industry,” Fish said.
“Those requests have been followed up by strong interest in the development of the terminals. We are expecting an announcement about the preferred respondents from the Queensland government towards the end of the year.
“It’s likely there will be demand for both single-user and multi- user terminals, and there will be the capacity to accommodate both thermal coal from the Galilee Basin and metallurgical coal from the Bowen Basin.”
Construction on the project, known as T4–7 (terminals 4–7), could start in 2014, with the first coal exports as soon as 2017. The $6.2 billion expansion is expected to take port capacity
to close to 300mtpa. The expansion will complete an astounding increase on the
port’s original capacity of 11mtpa. The X25 expansion project to bring export capacity to 25mtpa was completed in July 2009. The $818 million T1 expansion to extend capacity to 50mtpa is nearing completion, and the first ship to receive coal from the expanded port left Abbot Point with 44,000 tonnes of coal on 10 May 2011.
Also in May this year, the Queensland Government finalized the 99-year lease of terminal 1 to Mundra Port, the Australian subsidiary of Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd. Proceeds from the $1.829 billion lease are going towards Queensland’s natural disaster recovery.
Planning for the development of terminals 2 and 3, each
expected to have an initial capacity of 30mtpa, is already well advanced.
BHP Billiton Limited and Hancock Coal Pty Ltd were announced as preferred developers of T2 and T3 last year. Fish said the projects will take the port to a nominal capacity of 110mtpa and potentially 170mtpa.
Fish said the expansions — including T4–7 — would not only meet the steadily increasing demand for Queensland coal, but would underpin financial and economic growth in the Abbot Point State Development Area, and in Queensland.
“The Abbot Point expansion is a success story for Queensland,” Fish said.
“Confidence in our coal continued even throughout the global financial crisis and, through these projects, NQBP is taking a long-range view and working to ensure we stay ahead of that demand.
“We are also looking at Abbot Point as the next
major industrial development in Queensland through development of a multi-cargo facility to look beyond coal.”
The Multi-Cargo Facility (MCF) involves construction of a sheltered harbour capable of handling a variety of imports and exports, but predominantly bulk products. The completed facility is expected to cover approximately 370ha of reclaimed land, a harbour with up to 12 Capesized berths and a tug harbour, and dredging of about 37 million cubic metres of seabed material to create an access channel and manoeuvring area.
Fish said it was expected coal trade growth from the Bowen and Galillee basins, and the minerals trade from the North West Minerals Province would mean potential growth of hundreds of millions of tonnes per annum.
“We are experiencing unprecedented growth in the demand for Australian mining resources, and Abbot Point is ready for what lies ahead,” he said.
“We’re also proud the expansion to date has been achieved using our internationally accredited Environmental Management System.
“We want to continue to meet demand and underpin the economic development of this region and Queensland, while making the environment our priority.
“We work alongside our developers to ensure every aspect of these projects meets the highest standards.”