Port Kembla may be in line for a new container terminal according to media reports after a deal involving the Port of Newcastle fell through.
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Container terminal operator DP World has been in talks with Port of Newcastle to locate a new container terminal.
DP World already operates a terminal at Botany but the site is regarded as heavily constrained and it was looking for further capacity.
Fairfax Media reported this week that talks broke down between DP World and Port of Newcastle – the private group that took out a 98-year lease of the port in 2014.
What is Newcastle’s loss could be Port Kembla’s gain, according to DP World sources in the Fairfax Media report.
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The sources claimed DP World was now in talks with Port Kembla leaseholder NSW Ports about the potential for a terminal, which was described as “a compelling opportunity”.
They said that while Port Kembla needed dredging and the construction of the Maldon-Dombarton freight rail line to make a terminal possible, it was close to the main population growth in Sydney, which they said was towards the south-west.
A spokeswoman for DP World said the company was “in regular dialogue with its stakeholders and interested parties across the country and is continually assessing options”.
“That is good corporate practice and planning," the spokeswoman said. “We have nothing further to say.”
A NSW Ports spokesman would not state whether any discussions were under way.
“NSW Ports routinely discusses the future container terminal at Port Kembla with stakeholders,” the spokesman said.
“We do not comment on commercial matters.”
The spokesman said Port Kembla has had approved plans for a container terminal since 2011
“NSW Ports further reinforced the future of Port Kembla as the state’s next container port in our 30-year master plan, released in 2015,” he said.
“The identification of Port Kembla as a second container port was based on many favourable factors for Port Kembla in terms of logistics and efficiency that support the specific container supply chain needs and market in NSW.”
