India's Adani Group is seeking regulatory approval for a new coal terminal at Abbot Point in Australia's Queensland state, which would potentially raise its coal exports from the port by 70%.

Adani in a government filing said the proposed development known as Abbot Point Coal Terminal would enable the export of up to 35 million tonnes of coal a year.

The terminal would be located next to the existing X50 Abbot Point Coal Terminal, which the Queensland state government leased to Adani's Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone Ltd unit for 99 years in a USD 1.83 billion deal earlier this year.

The filing further said that "The proposed Terminal 0 provides a logical expansion of existing facilities which can be established in a short time frame to service immediate export needs.”

Abbot Point is close to Adani's mines in Queensland's remote Galilee Basin, which contain an estimated resource of 7.8 billion tonnes of coal. Adani's proposed Carmichael Coal project in the Galilee Basin involves building a mine that would produce 60 million tons a year of thermal coal at its peak in 2022.

Adani said that mined coal would be exported to India for use in the power sector from Abbot Point or the port of Hay Point to the south. Adani's proposed expansion at Abbot Point comes as other companies also seek regulatory approval to build terminals at the port.

(Sourced from online.wsj.com)