SIMEC, owned by Sanjeev Gupta, opens Whyalla port to outside interests
STEELWORK saviour Sanjeev Gupta has stayed true to his promise to open Whyalla’s port to outside business, offloading 68.5m wind turbine blades from the wharf.
STEELWORK saviour Sanjeev Gupta has stayed true to his promise to open Whyalla’s port to outside business, offloading 68.5m wind turbine blades from the wharf.
The mining and infrastructure arm of Mr Gupta’s GFG Alliance, SIMEC, has started transporting non-industrial cargo through the facility for a third-party client.
Wind turbines produced by Sevion were offloaded at the wharf, over the past few weeks, bound for the $450 million Lincoln Gap Wind Farm project, near Port Augusta.
SIMEC mining chief operating officer, Matt Reed, said the cargo highlights the increasing flexibility of the Whyalla Port.
“The use of our port by third parties has been of significant public and political interest for a number of years,” Mr Reed said.
“We have demonstrated our ability to transport numerous third‐party cargoes in the past, with this particular shipment proving our capability to handle more than just mining and manufacturing‐related materials.”
Mr Reed said SIMEC’s new stevedoring contractor, Qube Bulk, would play a pivotal role in developing the port into a world‐scale, multi‐user facility.
“Qube has enhanced our existing capabilities, enabling the port to handle more activities and a broader range of GFG and third‐party cargoes,” he said.
“As well as ramping up our third‐party usage, we are also making a significant investment in the port through our partnership with Qube by installing a new mobile harbour crane.
“Once implemented later this calendar year, this equipment will significantly improve the port’s reliability and productivity.”
