Glastone Port’s Barney Point Terminal has exported its last load of coal as the terminal moves to concentrate more on other dry bulk exports.
Gladstone Ports Corporation acting CEO Michael Galt said the cessation of coal operations at the terminal would not impact permanent employee numbers due to port growth, new trade opportunities and the continued operation of the RG Tanna Coal Terminal.
GPC chairman Leo Zussino said the closure was in line with the company’s 50 Year Strategic Plan.
“In 2008, as part of GPC’s commitment to a healthier environment for the Gladstone community, GPC announced that coal operations at Barney Point Terminal would cease during the first year of continuous operations at the Wiggins Island Coal Terminal,” Zussino said.
“This commitment has now been fulfilled.”
The terminal was built in 1967 to export coal from the Moura mine, and the terminal began operations in August of that year.
Coal was Queensland’s biggest export by value over the past financial year, worth $18.4 billion, according to DFAT publication Australia’s Trade by State and Territory 2014/15.
Coal accounted for close to 40% of the state’s total merchandise exports in 2014/15, even after a year-on-year decrease of 4.7%. Over the past year, the value of the state’s coal exports decreased by close to $1 billion.
Gladstone exported 68.8 million tonnes of coal over the 2014-15 year, according to the port’s annual report.
This article was originally published by ABHR affiliate Lloyd’s List Australia.