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Port Kembla’s coal export facilities are leased from the Government by a company owned by BHP Billiton, Centennial Coal, Xstrata Coal and Excel Coal, with charges based on a fee per tonne shipped.
In its June 2004 accounts, the state-owned Port Kembla Port Corporation valued the coal terminal at $A87.6 million, but the national media said today that price expectations will have been increased by the surge over the past two years in export prices for coking coal and steaming coal, both of which are shipped through the facility.
The Australian Financial Review said today the Government will also want to recoup some of the subsidies it paid to keep the coalminers' lease fees down when the commodity price slumped.
In June 2000, during a period of particularly low coal prices, the NSW Government agreed to a three-year $A18 million subsidy, which cut the lease fee from $A1.50 a tonne to A50c.
Coal throughput for Port Kembla this year is forecast to be around 8.8 million tonnes, well up on last year’s 7.7Mt.
If the terminal is sold, the proceeds would help Port Kembla fund development of other areas of the port, such as the construction of a new $A30 million cargo handling facility, which received planning approval in April.
