<p>A proposed $1bn coke plant and power station project in Queensland has won Federal Government recognition as a nationally significant project.</p> <p>Federal industry minister Ian Macfarlane said the Queensland Coke and Energy proposal had received major project facilitation (MPF) status.</p> <p>The project will use a new technology to produce a high quality blast furnace coke for export.</p> <p>"This $1bn project will add value to Australia’s coking coal reserves and help satisfy the rapidly growing global demand for coke to feed the world’s blast furnace reserves," Mr Macfarlane said.</p> <p>The plant will have an initial capacity of 1.6m tonnes a year and can expand to 3.2m tonnes.</p> <p>It is proposed that the plant is built southwest of Rockhampton and that coke is railed to Gladstone’s Fisherman’s Landing port site for export to Asia Europe and North America.</p> <p>The MPF status means that it will receive the attention of the national inward investment agency, Invest Australia.</p> <br />
