Port powering toward its 35% growth target

By Geelong Story Updates
Geelong’s port operator has announced it is on track to a growth target of 35 per cent by 2020.
Toll Ports general manager Lindsay Ward said additional business and increased imports heralded a new era of development for the port.
Recent growth had cemented Geelong’s status as the state’s second busiest port city, he said.
“Geelong has experienced a 64 per cent increase in trade over the past decade and we expect that growth to continue,” Mr Ward said.
“Notwithstanding the port is already a powerhouse of both state and regional economies, we are pushing ahead with plans to further streamline the interface between land and water.”
Mr Ward said a $20 million extension of one of the port’s most crucial berths, Corio Quay North, demonstrated Toll’s commitment to the Geelong region.
Other infrastructure improvement projects included a $1 million storage facility upgrade.
Mr Ward said Toll Geelong Port’s high productivity, customerfocused workforce and “superior facilities” including shorebased cranes and integrated storage had won plenty of new business for the organisation.
The port had recently begun receiving soybean meal shipments previously delivered to Melbourne.
A further 100,000 tonnes of chicken feed would also be unloaded annually in Geelong, while steel imports for car manufacturing, food processing and construction industries had increased 120,000 tonnes a year.
“We are on an exciting journey of growth and development,” Mr Ward said.
“Through strategic planning and a vigorous consolidation and expansion program we expect the dynamic performance of the past decade will roll on into the next 10 years and beyond.”
Port of Geelong handles more than 12 million tonnes of cargo worth nearly $6 billion a year.
The port is responsible for a quarter of Victoria’s overseas exports and supports more than 6100 workers.