Quantem Bulk Liquid Storage pulls out of lengthy legal battle over $52m Kwinana facility

One of Australia’s biggest liquid storage companies is staying mum over whether it still plans to build a $52 million facility for fertiliser, cooking oil and caustic soda at Kwinana after pulling out of a two-year legal battle. Quantem Bulk Liquid Storage and Handling — Australia’s biggest independent liquid terminal provider — inherited the site and plans from GrainCorp when it purchased its national Liquid Terminals business for $333 million in 2019. Quantem had earmarked a 2.7ha, vacant block at lot 108 Kwinana Beach Road — behind Nutrien Ag Solutions’ fertiliser business Macrofil — for its newest WA development. The project involved building 20 tanks ranging from 1250 to 13,500 cubic metres and an associated pipeline to the Kwinana Bulk Jetty for incoming shipments, as well as tank loading gandries, an office, and a carpark. Plans were approved by the Metro South West Joint Development Assessment Panel in April 2020, but Quantem launched legal proceedings in the State Administrative Tribunal three months later in July 2020. The approval included 23 conditions pertaining to management of liquid waste and wastewater, traffic, and dust control, among others, with construction required to start within four years of approval by April 2024. Court records obtained by Countryman show Quantem wanted the Tribunal to “review a decision of a development assessment panel”, however the company has declined to comment on what decision it wanted reviewed, if it was pushing on with the project, or when construction might start. Instead, a spokesman said the company remained “committed to WA”. “We are currently assessing a number of various options for our continued service to existing and new customers in the region,” he said. A spokeswoman for the City of Kwinana said the City was aware the matter had been withdrawn from the State Administrative Tribunal but said the application was “still live” with the City. A spokesman for DevelopmentWA — which owns the site — said it had an “option to lease” with Quantem, while the company obtained project approvals and reached a “positive financial investment decision”. The new facility would have added to Quantem’s 600,000 cubic metres of storage at 12 sites across Australia and New Zealand and hold urea, tallow, caustic soda, and vegetable and used cooking oils. Quantem has applied to Department of Water and Environmental Regulation for works approval, a clearing licence and a clearing permit, and to the Department of Mines for a dangerous goods licence. The Environmental Protection Authority determined it did not warrant assessment because its industrial area location and the fact it had already been cleared meant “likely environmental effects. . . are not so significant”. The sale of the bulk liquid terminals business was part of GrainCorp’s ongoing portfolio review, which was announced around the time it revealed Long Term Asset Partners had made a $3.33 million takeover bid for the business in December 2018. The transaction closed on December 30, 2019, after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approved the sale in November. As part of the deal, Quantem acquired six new terminals: Coode Island and North Laverton in Victoria, Pinkenba in Queensland, Largs Bay in South Australia; Devonport in Tasmania, and Fremantle in WA. GrainCorp’s Port Kembla Liquid Terminal in NSW was excluded due to concerns about port-side bulk liquid storage in the state.