The new terminal will be operated by coal mining consortium Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group, and will initially process up to 33 million tonnes of coal per annum, expanding to a maximum capacity of 66Mtpa.

The Port Waratah Coal Services expansion of Kooragang will increase the loader’s capacity from 77Mtpa to 120Mtpa.

Acting chairman of the NCIG and Felix Resources managing director Brian Flannery told International Longwall News that at the completion of the two projects, the Port of Newcastle would have the capacity to support demand.

“In two years time, Newcastle Port, that’s the NCIG and PWCS loaders, will create a very efficient port facility for our customers,” he said.

“Between the two ports, Newcastle will have plenty of capacity, and it should never get back into the situation we see now.”

The facility will include rail and wharf facilities on Kooragang and will support up to 500 construction jobs and up to 100 operational jobs.

Planning Minister Frank Sartor announced approval for the projects last week, shortly after the Austar coal mine was forced to scale back its workforce because of costs related to shipping queues and a reduced coal export allocation.

“The only reason we are reducing operations is the lack of export capacity in the coal chain. If the capacity was available, we would be using it," Austar senior site executive Greig Duncan said.

Although Flannery admitted that NCIG would have liked the approval for the new terminal to have come earlier, he doubted an earlier decision would have saved any jobs at Austar.

Greens MP Lee Rhiannon also responded to the job losses at Austar, accusing the coal industry of creating a crisis in the export of coal through Newcastle Port to boost their case for the new coal loader.

“The queue of ships waiting off the NSW coast and today's sacking of 79 coal miners looks like an ugly form of industrial blackmail. Wealthy coal companies are putting pressure on Premier Morris Iemma to fast-track approval of the proposed coal loader in Newcastle," Rhiannon said.

“The queues of ships are growing because coal companies are overbooking ships, not because port infrastructure is failing.”

NCIG is a consortium made up of six mining companies: Hunter Valley Energy Coal, Centennial Coal, Donaldson Coal, Excel Coal, Felix Resources and Whitehaven Coal Mining.