Freight
Greenbushes to Kwinana Rail Upgrades including a Waterloo, Intermodal Facility Bunbury Port continues to break records year on year. The port’s key exports are alumina, aluminium hydroxide, minerals sands, silica sand, silicon dross, spodumene and woodchips. Rail links to the port from South 32 and Alcoa have prompted Brunswick Rail duplication for some years and the growth in bulk spodumene is putting pressure on local roads to the points where road freight to Kemerton and Kwinana is straining the network. Pressure is growing from industry to restore the Greenbushes to Bunbury rail line and establish standard gauge from Greenbushes through to Kwinana, duplicating the Brunswick line and adding a spur to Kemerton to reduce freight costs and mitigate carbon and congestion. This development would also provide port opportunities for containerisation and roll on-off cargoes to support Fremantle. With the extension of rail south to Greenbushes and the planned growth of the Kemerton Strategic Industry Area, Waterloo has been highlighted as the optimum location for a truck and rail intermodal terminal (IMT). The IMT would be at the junction of the South West rail line, Bunbury Outer Ring Road and the South West Highway with direct links to the Port of Bunbury. Other industries that stand to benefit include – bauxite/alumina, timber, mineral sands, agriculture/agri-business, copper concentrate, caustic soda and container freight. Air freight Busselton Margaret River Airport presents unparalleled opportunity in air freight. Featuring a 2520m runway, 45m wide to facilitate narrow- and wide-bodied Code 4C and E aircraft (such as Boeing 737, Airbus 320 and Airbus 330) the airport runs a regular passenger service direct to Melbourne. However, the reach from Busselton extends as far as Shanghai. The airport is a freehold site with helipads and refuelling facilities. Land is industrial zoned and is unencumbered for investment and development purposes. Development land around the airport is greenfield and investment ready with taxiways constructed. The airport presents significant potential as an alternative to Perth Airport by way of aircraft servicing and space to build large scale hangars.
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Resources ARC Infrastructure – www.arcinfra.com Draft South West Supply Chain Strategy, Department of Transport www.transport.wa.gov.au/Freight- Ports/south-west-supply-chain-strategy.asp South West Regional Futures – www.swfutures.com.au Busselton Margaret River Airport – busseltonmargaretriverairport.com.au
New Energy The South West hosts the world’s premium lithium-bearing spodumene mine. There is multi-million- dollar investment under way in what will be the mine’s third onsite processing plant. The region is also attracting the attention of windfarm operations. At the time of printing an $8bn, 3GW proposal is seeking environmental approvals and access to the SW Interconnected System.
90 | WA Investment Prospectus
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