Port of Newcastle Breaks Coal Shipment Records in December

The Port of Newcastle has ended 2008 by setting a new monthly record for coal exports, Ports and Waterways minister Joe Tripodi announced today. The December 2007 total of 8,548,813 tonnes of coal exported through the Port of Newcastle in New South Wales also beat the previous record set in December 2007 by nearly 165,000 tonnes. A Government spokesman claimed that the all time record tonnage handled at Newcastle has cemented the port's reputation as the biggest coal export facility in the world.

For the 2007-08 financial year, Newcastle Port Corporation reported a record 88.88m tonnes of coal exports valued at $7.7bn. On a calendar year basis (2008) the amount of coal exported from Newcastle totalled 91.4m tonnes.

Jodi McKay, minister for the Hunter Region, of which Newcastle is the major city, said Newcastle’s position as the world’s leading coal export facility will be further enhanced with the completion of new coal loading infrastructure over the next few years.

The new $1bn coal terminal being constructed by Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group on Kooragang Island is scheduled for operation in 2010 with an initial export capacity of 30m tonnes, the minister pointed out.