Newcastle Port Operator Delays New Coal Terminal, May Scrap Plans - Fox Business

Published April 09, 2013

Dow Jones Newswires

Plans to build a fourth coal terminal at Australia's Newcastle port--one of the world's largest coal export ports--have been delayed for at least two years and could be dropped entirely, reflecting a continued deterioration in the once-booming industry.

Australian coal producers including BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) and Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN), the world's largest thermal coal exporter by volume, have shut pits and delayed investments as low prices and weak Asian demand made many of the country's mines unprofitable.

Port Waratah Coal Services Chief Executive Hennie du Plooy said the company was now reconsidering plans for a new terminal at Newcastle.

The company, which operates the Carrington and Kooragang coal terminals at the port, will look at whether it can expand its existing Kooragang site instead, he said.

If executives decide a new terminal is needed, it won't be open until 2018--two years behind a revised deadline announced last year, and three years behind its original development plan released in 2010.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com

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