Australia's Port Kembla shipping facilities will be privatised to generate proceeds to fund major road projects across the state of New South Wales (NWS), Seatrade Asia online reports.
The NSW government will now conduct a scoping study to decide how Port Kembla should be leased for 99 years, and if the Illawarra terminal and Port Botany should be sold off together.
Proceeds from the privatisation of Port Kembla, which handles coal, grain, motor vehicles and cement, would be invested in Restart NSW, the state government body in charge of funding major infrastructure projects.
“As a regional port, Port Kembla has significant growth potential that we believe can be more appropriately managed and financed by the private sector,” said Mike Baird, treasurer of the NSW government.
The government will consider the scoping study recommendations in the first-half of 2012, with an aim of completing the transaction by mid-2013, Baird said.
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