BBI’s “Master Plan 2005”, a proposal to expand DBCT’s inloading, stockyard and outloading systems, was approved by DBCT Holdings, the company that oversees the terminal facility on behalf of the Queensland Government.

For the 2004-05 financial year, the facility set a new throughput record by shipping 50.53Mt of coal.

BBI said this significantly exceeded the previous record of 43.6Mt, which was set in the previous financial year, and was also the single largest yearly incremental increase (6.97Mt) in the terminal’s history.

But the facility is still struggling to meet demand, and based on estimates recently advised by BBI to DBCT customers, an expansion to 85Mtpa would require investment of more than $A1 billion.

“The major development plan is a timely submission, given the terminal’s record-breaking yearly performance, and again highlights the strength of demand at DBCT,” BBI chief executive Chris Chapman said. “The approval of Master Plan 2005 is a milestone in the future expansion of the terminal.”