PREMIER Mike Baird said Sydney's third container terminal at Port Botany would boost the state's competitiveness in global trade and drive economic growth.
Mr Baird officially opened the terminal — the major component of a $1 billion port expansion.
The terminal occupies an area equivalent to 80 football fields and was created by dredging almost 8 million cubic metres of sand from Botany Bay's sea floor.
It is operated by Sydney International Container Terminals, part of the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings, which operates throughout the world.
Mr Baird said the company invested more than $300 million to set up the terminal.
Four hundred jobs were created during construction and about 160 people were employed to run the terminal.
Mr Baird said the terminal would enhance Port Botany as a container gateway to NSW and Australia.
"As a global city we need to ensure Sydney remains internationally competitive," he said.
Mr Baird said the terminal had doubled the port's container-handling capacity and bringing a third operator into the market had increased competition.
The state government handed over the operation of Port Botany and Port Kembla to a private operator last year under a 99-year lease, with net proceeds of about $4 billion earmarked for new infrastructure.
SIZE CONCERNS
The scale of the proposed port expansion met with strong opposition on environmental grounds after it was announced in 2001.
A commission of inquiry recommended a smaller development but the state government rejected the findings.
After dredging was completed, the site was handed over to the new operator for fitting out in 2011.
Is the expansion of Port Botany a blessing or a curse?
