Bulk boost for port of Mackay

A DESIRE to cash in on the diversity of the central Queensland economy are behind North Queensland Bulk Ports’ decision to open a new facility at Mackay for bulk materials. NQBP trade development manager Darren Fursman said Mackay was one of the major servicing centres for the Central Queensland mining and agricultural industries. “As a business, we identified the potential for an area within the port to cater for a common user facility that can accommodate a variety of bulk trades,” Mr Fursman said. “The new common-user handling area provides regional businesses that need to import or export bulk materials the opportunity to get their product to market earlier, grow trade and, potentially, lead to the development of their own storage and handling facilities.” The area is said to have significant storage capacity and be ideal for one-off, short-term or emerging bulk material trades. As an example, the area is said to have a maximum combined storage capacity for grain of about 48,000 tonnes. Key commodities currently traded at Mackay include fuel, sugar, grain, magnetite, fertiliser, scrap metal as well as the port’s targeted growth market, breakbulk cargo. The new storage area is said to be suitable for trades such as minerals, construction materials, timber scrap metal, sugar and grains as well as other bulk commodities.