QIC to take a $150 million stake in massive coal port
The Queensland Government will take a $150 million stake in a central Queensland coal port and underpin a $1.2 billion expansion of the asset and further coal mine development.
The Dalrymple Bay coal terminal, near Mackay.
The QIC will take a 9.9 per cent stake in the float of the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, currently owned by Canadian asset company, Brookfield.
It is expected the coal port will be floated off soon and will be the biggest initial public offering of the year.
The deal marks a big shift in attitude by the State Government since Cameron Dick took over the Treasurer role from Jackie Trad, a position he will continue to hold following the election of the Palaszczuk Government.
It is understood that Brookfield will continue to hold a stake in the coal port of 49 per cent, but wants to expand it from its current 85 million tonnes to about 100 million tonnes.
That would effectively open up export avenues for another six planned central Queensland coal mines, including the 15 million tonnes a year Olive Downs project owned by Pembroke Resources.
The expansion of the port would generate about 500 jobs.
The State Government said it wanted to regain a stake in the port which it sold off more than 20 years ago.
The Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the QIC’s decision to invest in the DBCT was a clear vote of confidence by the State Government in the role of resources in Queensland’s COVID-19 recovery and economic growth for decades to come.
Macfarlane said the QRC had previously sought and received a commitment from the Government to provide regulatory certainty for DBCT and the Central Queensland Coal Network, with the independent Queensland Competition Authority to have oversight of both assets as regulated monopolies until 2030 and 2040 respectively.
“The QRC looks forward to continuing to work in partnership with the Palaszczuk Government to develop the resources sector, particularly through the preparation of a Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan that the Treasurer and I announced last month,” Macfarlane said.
“The development of our resources sector is critical for Queensland’s COVID-19 recovery and its longer-term economic growth.”