A consortium of grain traders are to come together in a US$75 million investment to double the number of grain exports out of Port Kembla at Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia.
QuattroPorts, NSW Ports and Qube Holdings plan to build silos, dredge the port to take larger bulk grain ships, and install conveyors to link the rail siding to new silos – all in an effort to double exports by next year.
As well as a bulk grain-handling export facility, there will be an expanded berth to bring in bigger Panamax ships.
Tony Day, head of Quattro Ports said: “We think with rail wagons as an example, some of today’s trains can load 2,200 tonnes, but we'll be able to load 3,000 tonnes in a train. Those savings in the freight system and improvements in the supply chain will hopefully create value through the system.”
“A single 20-foot container per se will hold 24 tonnes of grain, whereas we'll be loading ships that can take 55-60,000 tonnes of grain in a single ship.”
Day concluded that the investment will make exporting more efficient and possibly cheaper for grain exporting.
