Investment in bitumen facilities

Earlier this year Shell Australia unveiled two major investments in bitumen facilities to help meet demand across eastern Australia.
February 20, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

Earlier this year Shell Australia unveiled two major investments in bitumen facilities to help meet demand across eastern Australia.

The investment will help 763 Shell supply additional bitumen for road reconstruction efforts in south-east Queensland and north-west Victoria that is expected to last for a number of years.

The combined investment of AUD$27 million will create construction jobs in both Brisbane and Geelong, while increased supply will help service civil construction customers into the future.

Shell's marketing general manager Craig James announced the construction of a new bitumen facility at Shell's Geelong Refinery, and an upgrade of existing facilities at the company's Pinkenba site on the Brisbane River.

He said the AUD$20 million (US$21 million) investment in Geelong would include four new hot bitumen tanks and a new road gantry for loading trucks.

The AUD$7 million ($7.3 million) investment in Shell's Pinkenba bitumen facility will take advantage of the import capability of Shell's new wharf on the Brisbane River, and will double the plant's capacity.

"We view bitumen as a key growth area for Shell's Australian business and these facilities will improve supply to civil contractor customers for many years to come," Mr James said.

"In a country as large as Australia there is a high demand for the bitumen used to construct roads, but we are expecting a spike in local demand caused by flood damage that will last for some years." He said that as well as expanding Shell's bitumen capacity, the upgrades will support local manufacture of specialty products such as Shell's Multiphalte range, a product used for Australian airport runway surfacing. The product was recently used on both Adelaide and Melbourne airport upgrades.

"Shell is working with civil contractors and road authorities across Australia to bring technologically advanced bitumen products to market," he said.

The bitumen investments are part of a much larger capital programme "to support Shell's aggressive plans to grow its marketing business in Australia."

Materials

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Strong attendance points to a successful bauma China show
    December 17, 2014
    Even heavy rain showers on the first day of the bauma China exhibition in Shanghai did not dissuade the crowds packing the outside exhibition areas - Mike Woof writes Those firms exhibiting at bauma China 2014 in Shanghai benefited from a strong show that attracted a record attendance of 191,000, an increase of 6% over the 2012 event. A wide array of new equipment was on show from the 3,104 firms exhibiting, an increase of 14% from 2012. There was a strong focus on technology and new engines required for
    Read More
  • Piling starts in Parkes for bypass project
    October 20, 2023
    Two new bridges are part of the US$120 million Parkes Bypass Project in the Australian state of New South Wales.
    Read More
  • Sales success for auctions in Brisbane and Atlanta
    November 17, 2016
    Euro Auctions reports strong sales success at recent events it has run in Brisbane, Australia and Atlanta in the US. Both auctions showed customers keen to buy secondhand machines at healthy price levels according to the firm. In Atlanta, Georgia, USA Euro Auctions continues to benefit from a good demand for used machines. Its recent plant, machinery and vehicle sale in Atlanta in late October achieved sales of US$2.72 million. This represented a 25% increase in revenue from the firm’s previous sale, whi
    Read More
  • 'Growth opportunities worldwide' for construction machines
    March 19, 2012
    Wirtgen brothers Jürgen and Stefan discussed growth opportunities. Jürgen Wirtgen and Stefan Wirtgen are joint presidents of the Wirtgen Group and see business levels continuing to improve. Stefan said, “Generally speaking we are surprised with the growth levels, especially in the BRIC countries. It is giving us quite a big boost and is allowing us to grow. We are more than happy with 2011 so far as the order books are full and we didn’t expect this.”
    Read More

Highlighted Content