Commenting on the occasion, Nick Palmer, ABP port director for Grimsby & Immingham said, 'Reaching this milestone tonnage marks another important landmark for Humber International Terminal, which capitalises on one of Immingham’s greatest natural advantages, its deep water location on the south bank of the Humber Estuary.'

Humber International Terminal was built in two phases.

The first phase, built at a cost of £45m, is a multi-purpose facility through which passes a range of cargoes, predominantly solid fuel, but also includes animal feed, biomass fuels, steel and general cargo.

The second phase, opened in 2006, was built at a cost of £60m. It is a dedicated coal handling terminal developed to meet the power generation industry’s escalating demand for coal. It is situated close to six of Britain’s most important coal fired power stations.

Open 24 hours a day, the terminal  has a berth frontage of 520m and is capable of receiving vessels carrying in excess of 100,000 tons of cargo. The majority of the cargo handled is distributed from the terminal by rail to customers including SSE, Drax, BHP Billiton, International Power, Hargreaves, Arkady, Cefetra and Huntsman.