More than 7.7 million tonnes of coal was loaded last month, the third monthly record for the year, the ABC’s website reported.

The increase is believed to be related to improvements in planning and co-ordination recently introduced between coal miners and infrastructure providers for the Hunter Valley.

The group overseeing these improvements, the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Logistics Team, said that with expansion worth about $A1 billion committed to port and rail infrastructure in the Hunter Valley, further records could be expected.

This is expected to boost overall annual system capacity from the mid to low 80 million tonnes to the high 80 million tonnes for 2006.