Coal is loaded onto a ship at Abbot Point, near Bowen
Photo: Peter Holt
Abbot Point Coal Terminal is on track for another year of shipping records as a series of expansions continue to take shape at the facility.
A record 197 ships pulled into the terminal and 15,242,425 tonnes of coal was exported in 2009, and North Queensland Bulk Ports (NQBP) chief executive officer Brad Fish is confident those figures will climb again this year.
"The question is how much of a record?" he said.
A monthly shipping record was achieved in December when 22 ships took a total of 1,748,883 tonnes of coal from the terminal.
And figures were also good in January with 20 ships taking away 1,585,699 tonnes of the resource.
Mr Fish said the amount of coal entering and leaving the facility would continue to increase as upgrade projects were completed.
Expanding the facility's coal capacity from 50 million tonnes per annum to 110 million tonnes per annum will involve around an extra 660 ship visits each year.
This is expected to create $660 million of revenue, up to 2300 full-time jobs and up to $740 million in annual royalties to the Queensland government.
Both State and Commonwealth approvals are being sought for the X110 project, which will cost $3.6 billion to build.
The port's X50 project is expected to be completed next year.
Construction on the $1.1 billion Northern Missing Link rail project, which will support the terminal's expansion, is due to start next month.
Furthermore, there is an X230 project in the pipeline which will help the terminal service Waratah and Hancock Coal projects.
The Abbot Point Coal Terminal is now in its 26th year of operation.
Taken from The Daily Mercury 4 March 2010