While the ports aren’t owned or regulated by Canberra, Costello told parliament the government wanted to use its powers to remove obstacles to exporters.
Inadequate coal handling infrastructure has caused queues of more than 30 ships off the New South Wales and Queensland coasts in recent months, waiting to deliver coal to the hungry manufacturing boom in China and other parts of Asia.
Coal operators have been forced to pay large demurrage fees, limit mine output and stall expansion plans as port capacity struggled to keep up with demand.
Debate on how to best expand port infrastructure has been raging over the past year between port owners, coal companies and government. Last year New South Wales coal companies formed lobby faction Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group, which includes major BHP Billiton, to influence expansion plans for the Port of Newcastle.
“It appears...there is demand overseas which could be met by Australian companies but is not being met by Australian companies because of bottlenecks in Australia's export industry,” Costello said, singling out problems at coal-loading ports in northern New South Wales and Queensland.
Costello told parliament the government is looking closely at the structure of the ports.
He added that Australia can't afford to become complacent about its export performance or its large current account deficit.
