India's Adani Buys Australian Port Operator

A unit of India's Adani Enterprises will buy the company that operates Australia's Abbot Point Coal Terminal from Glencore for A$19.25 million dollars ($14.52 million), ending a legal wrangle over control of the port.

The statement from Adani and Glencore said Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone would purchase the port operator, Abbot Point BulkCoal Pty Ltd, pending regulatory approvals.

Adani Enterprises, India's biggest private sector coal trader, acquired the Abbot Point Coal Terminal port from the Queensland government in 2011, considering it a key part of its plan to ship coal from Australia to India and for other exports.

However, Glencore retained control of the actual operations of the port through its ownership of Abbot Point BulkCoal, sparking a legal dispute between the global miner and Adani that effectively will now end as the Indian company will assume full control of the port.

Adani Australia CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj called the deal "a key milestone in our well advanced plans for Abbot Point," according to the joint statement by the two companies.

Abbot Point BulkCoal is located about 30 kilometers north of Bowen on the North Queensland coast. The coal export terminal is Australia’s most northerly port.

Abbot Point Bulkcoal has been managing operations at the terminal since 1984. A number of expansions have taken place since 2006, facilitating an increase in capacity from 15Mtpa to its current capacity of 50Mtpa. The terminal is a multi-user operation with nine contracted users. Coal comes to the port from various Bowen Basin coal mines via a fully integrated narrow gauge rail logistics network. A second offshore berth and second ship-loader were commissioned in 2010-11, along with additional coal stockpiles and stacker/reclaimers.