By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 18.11.2011 (Business Standard): Adani Mining Pvt Ltd has applied for regulatory approval for a new coal terminal at Abbot Point in the state of Queensland, which would potentially raise total coal export from the port by 70 per cent.

Adani said the project would create jobs and stimulate the local economy, while the mined coal would be exported to India for the power sector.

“Adani Mining is planning a large coal mining project with allied infrastructure, the Carmichael coal mine and rail project, with a planned 60-mtpa (million tonner per annum) peak production in 2022. For evacuation of our coal volume, we are exploring various port options, including a greenfield (new) terminal at Dudgeon Point and also the possibility of expansion of the Abbot Point Coal Terminal,” said Harsh V Mishra, president, corporate planning, for the Ahmedabad-headquarterd Adani Group.

“Ultimately, depending on what is feasible from the environment, community, technical and commercial standpoint, we might choose a combination of options, including earmarking some of the capacity available for commercial third-party cargo,” Mishra added.

In a filing to the federal government under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999, Adani said the proposed development, known as Abbot Point Coal Terminal 0, may potentially enable the export of up to 35 mtpa of coal per annum.

The terminal would be located next to the existing X50 Abbot Point Coal Terminal which the Queensland government leased to Adani’s Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone Ltd for 99 years in an A$2 billion deal earlier this year. Abbot Point is close to Adani’s mines in Queensland’s remote Galilee Basin, which contain an estimated 7.8 billion tonnes of coal.

“The Project will be constructed in two stages, the timings of which are based on existing and forecast demand. Stage one construction works are planned to commence in 2013, with 25 mtpa of coal being exported from two stockpiles and one berth in 2014. Stage two is planned to be constructed between 2017 and 2020, and provide for a third stockpile and a second berth. Stage two is planned to be operational in 2020 and provide a total throughput of 35 mtpa through this terminal,” Adani said in a filing on the website of Australia’s department of sustainability, environment, water, population and communities.

The Australian bureau of agricultural and resource economics and sciences predicts Indian coal imports would rise from 60 mt in 2010 to 77 mt in 2011, going up to 128 mt in 2016, accounting for 30 per cent of the increase in global coal trade over the period.

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