Eyre Peninsula’s newest grain facility ready for business in 2019
T-Ports is preparing for grain receivals on the Eyre Peninsula in the 2019 harvest.
The Eyre Peninsula’s newest grain facility is ready for business in the 2019 season.
T-Port’s new facility consists of 500,000 tonnes of bunker storage at Lucky Bay and Lock, plus a shallow harbour port at Lucky Bay, which will utilise a transhipment vessel.
The project was first flagged in March last year.
Bunker construction is now complete — allowing for 360,000 tonnes of storage in 10 bunkers at Lucky Bay and 140,000 tonnes in six bunkers at Lock.
Construction at the port site is well underway and the transhipment vessel is on-track to arrive in Australian waters from China before harvest.
T-Ports chief executive Kieran Carvill said it was an exciting time for the business, particularly with the season on the Eyre Peninsula shaping up well so far.
“There’s good potential on the Eyre Peninsula for a better than average season, but growers still need more rain to keep that potential,” he said.
With safety concerns about extra truck movements on Eyre Peninsula roads, following the closure of the rail system, Lucky Bay could also offer benefits for local road-users.
“With the closure of rail on the Eyre Peninsula, Lucky Bay offers a way to take trucks out of central Port Lincoln this coming season,” he said.
Mr Carvill said T-Ports planned to open the Lucky Bay and Lock sites in October for grain receivals.
“Construction is complete and now we are awaiting connection to mains power with SA Power Networks, with final IT systems to then be installed in coming weeks,” he said.
Construction at the port site is well underway, with concrete contractor Ballestrin currently on-site pouring concrete for silo foundations, with three 8000 tonne silos being built at the Lucky Bay port.
Ahrens will move onto site next month to construct the silos, while Kilic Engineering will be supplying equipment including bucket elevators and conveyor systems for the inload/outload of grain.
Earthworks contractor Buttrose has started the wharf side filling works, in conjunction with compacting the top layer of the road loop around the port.
The haul road joining the bunker site to the port site has been completed.
The Lucky Bay port site will be able to receive grain at a rate of 1000 tonnes an hour, while outturn onto the transshipping vessel is expected to be around 1500 tonnes an hour.
The port is expected to be completed by December, ready for shipping by January/February.
Commissioning of T-Ports transhipment vessel, the ‘Lucky Eyre’, is set to take place during August.
Mr Carvill said the conditions off Lucky Bay had been considered and factored into the construction of the transhipment vessel, which will be able to operate in wind speeds up to 25-28 knots and wave heights up to 2.5 metres.
The transhipment vessel will load ocean-going vessels five nautical miles off the coast.
T-Ports has started advertising for positions including vessel operators and site supervisors, with about 50 permanent and casual positions needing to be filled.
“We’re hoping to recruit locally as much as possible,” Mr Carvill said.
Mr Carvill said T-Ports was in discussion with major grain traders in regard to publishing pricing at Lock and Lucky Bay and he encouraged growers to ask for a T-Ports option in their grain contracts.
“We have provided the trade with all relevant information and we are hopeful they will capitalise on the strong interest from growers in the catchment area by including a dual pricing option for T-Ports deliveries when writing contracts,” he said.
“We know growers need to see pricing at site before contracting so we ask them to speak with their grain marketers about this and request a T-Ports option on contracts, subject to approval before harvest.”
T-Ports also has financing in place for its Wallaroo port project, which is still in the development approval stage.