Port of Newcastle board members have met directly with potential customers of the planned container terminal during a tour of the state's north west and New England regions.
The port's June board meeting was held in Moree on Thursday. It was the first time the board has met outside of Newcastle since the port was privatised a decade ago.
The Port of Newcastle is free to progress its plans to build the large-scale container terminal after paying $13million compensation to the state government.
The one-off payment, made on April 30, was required under the Port of Newcastle Extinguishment of Liability Act 2022 (NSW), which passed through parliament in late 2022.
Board members and the port's executive met with several agricultural producers who are keen to export from the Port of Newcastle.
"Having paid compensation to the NSW Government in April to remove the liability that prevented Port of Newcastle from realistically building a container terminal, we were determined to visit and thank our advocates and supporters," chief executive Craig Carmody said.
The visit provides an opportunity for us as a port to thank them and listen to their needs, to understand how we can make the supply chain more effective for them, ultimately benefiting the growers and positively impacting the wider economic growth of these communities."
Under current plans, the port's container terminal would move about 350,000 containers a year.
The Port of Newcastle Board voted in favour of paying the $13million, determined by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, at an extraordinary board meeting in May.
The port initiated a small-scale container export service last year as a precursor to the establishment of a fully-fledged container terminal.
The container ship Capitaine Dampier typically travels between Auckland, Fiji, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne on a fortnightly basis.
But as a result of a request from the Port of Newcastle, the ship's owner Neptune Pacific has agreed to visit Newcastle on a monthly basis.
"As we grow trade we are hopeful that it will convert to a fortnightly or weekly service," Port of Newcastle Senior Manager Business Development Kate McArthur said last year.
The ship is using the port's temporary container facilities at Mayfield 4 Berth, which is serviced by two Liebherr mobile harbour cranes.
A Hunter agricultural product producer was among the first businesses to take advantage of the opportunity to export directly from Newcastle.
"From now, it's really about growing the trade and the customer base," Ms McArthur said.
"Economies of scale come with a larger exchange, that comes with absorbing the stevedoring and terminal costs. The greater throughput there is the greater the productivity there is on the cranes and the terminal itself."
