Port Waratah Coal Services

Port Waratah Coal Services is the world’s largest coal loading operation, and it keeps getting bigger.

Bechtel is heading toward completion of its third expansion project since 1998 at the facility, located in Newcastle on the east coast of Australia. When the project is completed, Port Waratah will have the capacity to export 113 million metric tons of coal per year, helping meet growing demand for energy in Japan, Korea, and other fast-growing Asian economies.

The current expansion includes the installation of one new stacking machine and one new reclaiming machine at Kooragang—the larger of two terminals at Port Waratah—along with the replacing original Kooragang Terminal stacking and reclaiming machines and up-rating the second and third stacking streams.

The end of the project will not mean the end of the successful relationship between Port Waratah and Bechtel. The company already is doing early engineering for up to $1 billion post-2010 expansion plan that would significantly boost Newcastle’s coal output.

Newcastle has been a hub of the Australian coal industry for more than 200 years. Today, it serves as an export point for 40 coal mines in the Hunter Valley, and handles about one-third of the country’s coal exporting business. More than 1,000 ships visit Newcastle harbor every year.