BLUESCOPE has announced to shareholders the company’s plans to rapidly develop a “logistics hub” on their surplus land in Hastings; news that has come as a surprise to Mornington Peninsula Shire.
The announcement came at the company’s half year report where they reported first half profits of $391m, up 118% on last year.
A statement said “BlueScope continues to progress value realisation across its 1,200ha surplus land portfolio, as demonstrated by the recent 33ha residential land sale at West Dapto, which is contracted for settlement in the second half of FY2026”.
“The 1,200ha surplus land portfolio is in sought after industrial locations, with port, logistics and energy infrastructure, the majority of which is already appropriately zoned and able to be developed.
“As part of the acceleration program, a process has commenced seeking a development partner for a 65‑hectare logistics hub on zoned land at Western Port. The Company expects robust demand given proximity to Melbourne southeast industrial area and transport infrastructure, with all monetisation models that will maximise value under consideration.”
The company said the “logistics hub” will be established by “1H FY2027”.
The value of Bluescope’s surplus Western Port land was mooted in January as a factor in the undervaluation of a hostile takeover bid by a consortium led by Kerry Stokes’s SGH Limited and US firm Steel Dynamics (BlueScope’s ‘land bank’ value one reason for takeover rejection, The News 13/1/26).
In early January, BlueScope chair, Jane McAloon, said, “Let me be clear – this proposal was an attempt to take BlueScope from its shareholders on the cheap. It drastically undervalued our world-class assets, our growth momentum, and our future – and the board will not let that happen”.
Further to the argument based on operating metrics, the announcement stated the takeover proposal failed to adequately reflect the value expected to be delivered from various initiatives, including the monetisation of BlueScope’s 1,200 hectare “no-operational” land portfolio.
BlueScope Western Port currently holds a “non-operational” land bank in Western Port of 450 hectares (over 1,100 acres) to which the company has implied pro rata value of over $1b.
BlueScope has listed potential uses for its excess land in the fields of energy (data centres, renewables, battery energy storage systems), logistics (warehousing, rail, hardstand, port), downstream businesses /manufacturing, and R&D/social infrastructure (educational precincts, industrial innovation, parks).
The entirety of its “non-operational” land bank across four sites has been given an implied value by BlueScope of $2.8b.
Details of the development plans are scant, but any high-level logistics hub could impact traffic and amenity in the surrounding area.
It appears the development has come as a surprise to Mornington Peninsula Shire with a spokesperson telling The News “Mornington Peninsula Shire Council currently has not received an application for the Logistical Hub or had pre-application discussions with the proponent”.
BlueScope is still fending off the hostile takeover bid with the consortium lifting their bid to $34 per share last month, valuing the company at around $14.2b. The company has not shut the door on the takeover completely, with a letter to the consortium stating “The Board remains open to a transaction at a price that reflects the fair value of BlueScope”.
First published in the Mornington News – 10 March 2026
