T-Ports Lucky Bay bunker site – 3 August 2018
An update from CEO Kieran Carvill
T-Ports has updated its grower supporters this week that the bunkers at Lock and Lucky Bay will be ready to receive and export grain for the 2019 harvest.
The change has been influenced by a number of factors, including the need for the trade to be able to see the new delivery system in action, growers’ intentions to largely sell for cash this season rather than warehouse grain, and the fact that with the current season outlook, tonnages for delivery on upper EP would be limited.
We are building this development on the EP for the long-term. We have a $115 million project in progress, featuring two bunker sites with more than 500,000 tonnes of storage, a port facility with a further 27,000 tonnes of storage in steel silos and a state-of-the-art transhipment vessel with 3500-tonne capacity.
We are committed to providing a complete supply chain pathway and remain focused on delivering the best result for Eyre Peninsula growers. The EP development has always been about our longer-term goals to innovate upon the traditional port model and provide a real alternative grain supply chain in which growers have equity. We want growers, the trade and our stakeholders to continue to be our trusted and valued partners going forward.
Work is continuing on the transhipment vessel in China and we are expecting it in Australian waters in Q2 2019. For the trade, which has commitments to its end users, this has made it difficult for them to price at site until they see the port and vessel in action and can explain to their customers how the system works. We understand that and so we have spoken at length with our grower partners about the development and these challenges in the context of the current season.
Construction work is continuing at full pace at Lock and Lucky Bay and updates will continue to be available. Progress at both bunker sites remains on track with more than 50% of the cut to fill earthworks completed at both sites. Works involving placing, compacting and trimming rubble for the final pavement layer will commence shortly, followed by stormwater and services installation.
The first three DOH stackers have arrived at Lock in the past month and the procurement of equipment for the bunker sites and the port site will continue. Mobilisation for construction of the grain terminal at Lucky Bay is planned to commence by early October, with portside civil tenders currently open. We have sought local suppliers and contractors wherever possible and this will continue.
Mettler Toledo weighbridges will be installed during September, with delivery of the Ausco operational buildings and bunker walls, to be supplied by Lienert Engineering at Kimba, also due around this time.
From the beginning, we’ve been open and honest with all our stakeholders about our commitment to delivering a complete supply chain pathway for the Eyre Peninsula and our commitment to that has not changed.
