Reuters reported that Xstrata Plc the world No 1 exporter of steam coal plans to build a new AUD 1 billion coal port in Australia.

A spokesman from Xstrata coal unit in Australia the proposed Balaclava Island coal export terminal will have an export capacity of up to 35 million tonnes a year and will ship coal from the Bowen and Surat basins in the northeastern state of Queensland.

Xstrata said the port which will be able to accommodate vessels of up to 110,000 tonnes will help alleviate congestion at three other coal terminals in Queensland located at Gladstone, Dalrymple Bay and Abbot Point.

Most of Australia coal ports are dogged by infrastructure constraints and suffer from endemic congestion, with the bottlenecks resulting in lengthy queues of ships waiting for berths. The ship queues and lengthy waiting times for vessels to load coal have in recent years become a big headache for Australian coal miners as the logjams have crimped their sales and cost those millions of dollars in shipping penalties.

According to documents filed with the federal environment department, Xstrata said existing port capacities and known future port expansions will not be able to handle its production growth expectations.

The documents showed the Balaclava port will service increased production at Xstrata Rollestone and Oaky Creek coal mines.

Xstrata hopes to start construction of the port in 2012 and for the facility to be operational by 2014.

(Sourced from Reuters)