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Adani Ports reclaims global coal gateway
The deets: Adani Ports is India’s biggest private port operator managing cargo and logistics across domestic and international shipping hubs.
The company is acquiring Abbot Point Port Holdings. Now, APPH is the company that owns and operates the North Queensland Export Terminal.
So, by acquiring APPH, Adani Ports is effectively taking control of the North Queensland Export Terminal. This terminal is crucial for shipping coal, especially from Adani’s own Carmichael mine.
In simple terms, Adani Ports isn’t directly buying the terminal, it’s buying the company that owns the terminal. And that gives it full control over the terminal operations.
The why: the North Queensland Export Terminal is a dedicated coal export facility with a large capacity of 50 million tonnes per year. It's a ready-to-use, high-capacity asset that fits neatly into Adani Ports’ global expansion strategy.
Adani Ports wants to double its cargo handling volume to 1 billion tonnes per year by FY30. Taking control of this terminal helps speed up that plan, especially by giving it access to bulk export volumes from Australia.
While the terminal currently handles coal, it has the potential to be used for exporting green hydrogen in the future- a big focus area for Adani Group’s clean energy push. With this acquisition, Adani Ports could triple or even quadruple its cargo volume from the region. It aims to grow from 35 million tonnes in FY25 to around 120 million tonnes, leveraging the terminal’s large capacity and export potential.
Background: Back in 2011, Adani Ports had acquired the North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT) at Abbot Point for $2 billion. Just two years later, in 2013, the Adani family bought it back from APSEZ at the same value, including the capital invested, so the listed entity could refocus on its Indian operations.
Interestingly, the current deal is priced at nearly the same value as the 2013 transaction, despite 12 years of capital investment, growth, and inflation. This comes at slightly discounted valuations compared to recent deals in the region. For Adani, it’s a strategic full-circle moment with global ambitions back on the fast track.
Zoom out: this marks APSEZ’s fourth international deal in the last two years. Its global footprint now spans 19 ports and terminals- 15 in India, and four overseas, including locations in Israel, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, and now Australia.
Big theme: India is largely a coal-importing country, as most of its domestic coal is consumed internally to meet massive power demands. As a result, the country has limited infrastructure for coal exports, and very few terminals are dedicated to outbound coal shipments.
Indian companies are expanding their global mining interests, particularly in coal-rich regions like Australia and Indonesia. As a result, there’s a growing interest in owning and managing coal export terminals overseas.
