Investors drop out of Oregon coal port project

Published 2:43 pm Monday, March 11, 2013

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A California stevedoring company has until the end of the month to decide if it still wants to ship coal from Montana and Wyoming to Asia through Coos Bay, Ore., now that two of its partners have dropped out.

A document posted on the International Port of Coos Bay website Monday says that Mitsui &Co., the US subsidiary of a Japanese trading company, and Korean Electric Power Corp., the potential buyer of the coal, are no longer part of the project.

The development was first reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Metropolitan Stevedore Company of Wilmington, Calif., renewed its exclusive negotiating agreement with the port through March 31

Coos Bay is one of five Northwest ports interested in exporting coal mined in Montana and Wyoming to markets in Asia.