Barry, Vale of Glamorgan dock basin was opened in 1889 to be followed by two other docks and extensive port installations. The Barry Railway brought coal down from the South Wales Valleys to the new docks whose trade grew from one million tons in the first year, to over nine million tons by 1903. The port was crowded with ships and had flourishing ship repair yards, cold stores, flour mills and an ice factory. By 1913, Barry was the largest coal exporting port in the world. Behind the docks rose the terraced houses of Barry which, with Cadoxton, soon formed a sizeable town. The
Richards Bay first half of 2009. In 2007 annual throughput was 66.12 million tons. The Australian port of Newcastle, New south Wales, is the largest coal exporting harbour in the world, exporting just over 161 million tonnes of coal in 2016. Two aluminium smelters, Hillside Aluminum and Bayside Aluminium are operated by BHP Billiton. BHP has recently sold their interest in Hillside to South32. A fertiliser plant operated by Foskor has been erected at the harbour. Iron ore, rutile (titanium oxide) and zircon are mined from the sand dunes close to the lagoon by Richards Bay Minerals, a part of the Rio