NSW Government dragging Hunter coal chain, Vaile says

<p>The New South Wales Government had dragged the chain on infrastructure development at the port of Newcastle and left the port unable to cope with strong demand for coal, federal transport minister Mark Vaile said yesterday (Wednesday, March 7).</p> <p>The queue of ships waiting at the port surged from 15 less than six months ago, peaking at a record 73 last week.</p> <p>Mr Vaile said the Federal Government, through the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), had made its contribution by eliminating key rail bottlenecks, including building a flyover at Sandgate, 10 km west of the port.</p> <p>Mr Vaile said the problem with the coal chain was a deficiency in the coal handling at the port.</p> <p>The coal terminal operator, Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) has previously attributed a surge in vessel arrivals for the inflated queue.</p> <p>Mr Vaile told the ABARE Outlook 2007 conference: "We hear that there are plans to develop another coal loader there. </p> <p>"Well, I wish it would hurry up.</p> <p>"We’ve got a classic scenario that has developed in Australia where we’ve got some very, very efficient ports operating on the west coast in bulk mine commodities, in the resources sector, run by the private sector."</p> <p>Coal handling at ports along the eastern seaboard was effectively controlled by the state governments, to the industry’s detriment, he said.</p> <p>"We need to ask ourselves the question: is the appropriate level of investment being made at these ports when we consider the cycle we are in at the moment, with global demand for these commodities and in particular, for Australia’s coal industry?" Mr Vaile said.</p> <p>He said an upgrade to train speed limits near Muswellbrook in January had boosted rail capacity to 115mtpa.</p> <p>PWCS has now completed its $170m Kooragang coal terminal expansion, which will push shiploading to 105mtpa. </p> <p>Mr Vaile said the Hunter coal chain needed a greater commitment from the NSW Government, including support for the new coal terminal proposed by the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG). </p> <p>However, an environmental activist group went so far as to suggest that coal companies were conspiring to keep the queue long in order to force the State Government to build NCIG’s 30mtpa terminal, which is planned for 2009.</p> <p>Steve Phillips, from activist group Rising Tide, told the <em>Daily Telegraph</em> that coal companies saw the queue as a way to push for more capacity.</p> <p>&#8220We think it’s a deliberate tactic by coal companies to put pressure on and then get the new coal loaders approved,&#8221 Mr Phillips told the newspaper. </p> <br />