Port Kembla: Australia's New South Wales government has officially announced the privatisation for Port Kembla and Port Botany with an estimated price tag of more than A$2bn. Local media reports said consortiums involving a number of international and local infrastructure funds are running for the two ports. Some of the consortiums include QIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Hastings Funds Management, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Global Infrastructure Partners, and Citi Infrastructure. The port facilities will be leased for 99 years in order to fund major infrastructure projects around the state.

Due to a severe weather warning and strong gale winds forecast , the Port Kembla harbor master on August 10, 2012 had ordered the anchorage to be cleared and all ships to proceed to sea and remain more than 12 nautical miles off the coast, Break bulk reports. Port Kembla, located about 70 kilometers south of Sydney, Australia, remained closed to ship traffic until Sunday, Aug. 12, according to an alert from GAC Australia. Vessel movements within port limits continued, although under strict supervision until the weather cleared.

A backlog of ships anchored off the Illawarra coast has grown because of the small coal stockpile and planned maintenance at Port Kembla’s busy coal terminal. Port Kembla Port Corporation chief executive officer Dom Figliomeni said he could not remember more vessels being queued at once. ‘‘If you really looked at it, ideally you would have one ship at berth and probably three or four at anchor, which is what we used to have until recently,’’ he said. Fifteen ships at anchor yesterday were waiting to access the Port Kembla Coal Terminal (PKCT). Mr Figliomeni said the terminal was very busy, which meant any delays had a flow-on effect. www.illawarramerc...

Workers at the BHP Billiton-operated Port Kembla coal terminal in Australia launched a week-long strike on Wednesday, action which could halt the terminal's coal and coke exports, a union spokesman said, Reuters reports. Port Kembla exports around 10 million tonnes of coal and coke per year, according to the Port Kembla Port Corporation, and processed about 5 percent of seaborne metallurgical coal used for steelmaking last year. About 100 Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) workers are striking to protest against the Port Corporation's proposal to reduce the number of employees covered by the union agreement, Bob Timbs, a union spokesman, said. "The strike action is not about the remuneration," Bob Timbs, a union spokesman, said. The union is asking for a 4.5 percent pay raise and the port has offered a 4.3 percent increase.

It’s full steam ahead in the expansion planning department at the Port Kembla Coal Terminal – thanks to the coal boom. Expansion at the terminal could include taking over its bulk products berth, dredging part of Port Kembla harbour and developing a new berth and ship loader, Dredging Today reports. The increased capacity could allow it to handle more than $1 billion worth of extra coal a year, as demand and prices for hard coking coal continue to soar. More at www.dredgingtoday...

The Port Kembla Port Corporation (PKPC) in New South Wales has advised that a revised price schedule will apply as from 1 October 2010. All statutory port charges will be increased by about five percent and will apply to navigation, pilotage, wharfage and site occupancy services. Read more: www.bairdmaritime...