Abbot Point reported the largest year-on-year percentage increase with exports now at 21 million tonnes for the first nine months, up 11% than for the same period of 2014. Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal remained the largest exporter with 52.9Mt followed closely by Gladstone Port (52.7Mt) and Hay Point Coal Terminal (32.1Mt).

QRC CEO Michael Roche said the results showed that coal continued to deliver for the Queensland economy.

“Despite a slump in commodity prices, coal is still a huge contributor to the Queensland economy,” he said.

“In 2014-15 coal contributed $32 billion to the Queensland economy and accounted for 11 per cent of all economic activity in the state.”

Roche said, while Queensland producers had increased volumes to keep operations viable in a depressed market, the latest figures also confirmed coal’s long-term future, despite all the naysayers.

“Contrary to claims of activists who are constantly bleating about the end of coal, we anticipate strong and continuing demand from energy-hungry nations across southeast Asia,” he said.

“The uptake of new high efficiency, low emission technology will see coal, particularly the high quality coal found in Australia, play a rapidly expanding role in the future fuel mix.”

Roche said that these export numbers reflected the ongoing strong demand from steel producers for Queensland's high quality coking coal.