Aurizon announced its intention to exit the container freight terminal business to increase its focus on its growing coal division, as the rail haul operator suffered a full-year loss of USD 188 million. The intermodal business made a profit in only three of the past 10 years and lost USD 57 million in 2016-2017 alone. Total freight revenue fell eight per cent to USD 682.7 million, while freight haulage volumes fell five per cent.
Following a review of its freight business, Aurizon plans to exit its intermodal container freight terminal business via a combination of closures and sales. “The business has not been able to establish significant scale and a customer base to support a profitable business in such a highly competitive market,” Aurizon chief executive Andrew Harding said.
Aurizon will sell its Queensland intermodal business to a consortium of Pacific National and LinFox, and its Acacia Ridge intermodal terminal to Pacific National, for a total of USD 220 million. The remainder of its intermodal businesses outside Queensland will be closed by December.
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