berths, and 9 vessel operators. Approximately 1700 vessels are loaded at the terminals in the Port of Newcastle each year. For a more in-depth description of the Hunter Valley Coal Chain see Boland and Savelsbergh ([@Boland]).

An important characteristic of a coal loading terminal is whether it operates as a cargo assembly terminal or as a dedicated stockpiling terminal. When a terminal operates as a cargo assembly terminal, it operates in a “pull-based” manner, where the coal blends assembled and stockpiled are based on the demands of the arriving ships. When a terminal operates as dedicated stockpiling terminal, it operates in a “push-based” manner, where a small number of coal blends are built in dedicated stockpiles and only these coal blends can be requested by arriving vessels. We focus on cargo assembly terminals as they are more difficult to manage due to the large variety of coal blends that needs to be accommodated.

Depending on the size and the blend of a cargo, the assembly may take anywhere from three to seven days. This is due, in part, to the fact that mines can be located hundreds of miles away from the port and getting a trainload of coal to 