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Coal Export Terminal Faces Setback On South Oregon Coast

By Amelia Templeton (OPB)
March 8, 2013 11:06 p.m.
Coal being loaded at a mine in Wyoming. A proposed coal export terminal on Oregon's South Coast has hit a roadblock, according to public records obtained by EarthFix: two of its key business partners have backed out.

Coal being loaded at a mine in Wyoming. A proposed coal export terminal on Oregon's South Coast has hit a roadblock, according to public records obtained by EarthFix: two of its key business partners have backed out.

Katie Campbell

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A coal export terminal proposed for Oregon’s South Coast has hit a setback. Two of the project’s investors have dropped out, according to documents obtained Friday by EarthFix.

Project Mainstay in Coos Bay is one of five proposed coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest. They’re intended to ship coal from mines in Montana and Wyoming to markets in Asia.

Project Mainstay is the only one of those five terminals that hasn’t reached the permitting stage.

Documents obtained Friday through a public records request with the Port of Coos Bay reveal why the project has been moving forward so slowly: two of the original partners have backed out.

They are Mitsui, a large international trading firm, and the Korean Electric Power Corporation.

A California port logistics company, Metro Ports, is still backing the terminal and looking for new business partners. It’s signed an exlusive negotiation agreement with the Port of Coos Bay that will expire at the end of March.

Here's the background on the Coos Bay proposal, from EarthFix's Coal Scorecard: Your Guide To Coal In The Northwest.

Project Mainstay: Port of Coos Bay, Ore.

The port is in negotiations with Metro Ports, a stevedoring and terminal management company based in California, and Mitsui, a large international trading company involved with commodities.

Coos Bay, Ore. Locator Map
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Players: Metro Ports (Mitsui and Korean Electric Power Corp. dropped out).

Full Capacity: to be reached by 2023

Export Plans: 11 million short tons/year

Trains: 4 trains (2 full and 2 empty)

Train Cars: 600/day

Vessels: 200/year

What's Next: Metro is seeking new business partners after Mitsui and the Korean Electric Power Corp. dropped out of negotiations with the Port of Coos Bay. The partners would need to acquire land on the North Spit from the Port and negotiate deal over access to the rail line, or decide to walk away from the project. The Port is seeking dredging permits from government regulators. The dredging would deepen the channel to accomodate vessels carrying a variety of commodities, which could include coal.

Port of Coos Bay Negotiating Agreement Amendment by

Clarification: March 19,2013. An earlier version of this story imprecisely described dredging permits that the Port of Coos Bay is seeking. The port is seeking to dredge a shipping channel in order to accommodate vessels carrying a variety of commodities, including LNG, forest products and coal.


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