The Port of Newcastle is the largest bulk shipping port on the east coast of Australia and the world's leading coal export port. A record 150.5 million tonnes of coal was exported from Newcastle in 2013, which was the fourth consecutive year of growth above 10 per cent for coal exports from the port.
The Port of Newcastle allocates production from the mines to available shipping in a way that maximises the capacity of the terminal. Nonetheless, capacity issues have been reported at the port and it has developed a pipeline of project expansions, both in terms of terminal capacity and supporting rail and road infrastructure, to facilitate the expected growth in demand.