Gladstone
Queensland's largest port: 83M tonnes/year, world's 5th coal exporter, largest alumina port. 3 LNG plants on Curtis Island (23.7M tonnes 2025). 6 GW green hydrogen planned. $6.7B regional output.
Gladstone runs on transformations: bauxite into alumina, gas into liquid, sunlight into hydrogen. The port—Queensland's largest multi-commodity facility—handles 83 million tonnes annually and ranks as the world's fifth largest coal export terminal and largest alumina production port.
The aluminium complex dominates: Queensland Alumina and Yarwun refineries process raw bauxite; Boyne Smelters produces more aluminium than any other Australian facility, consuming 13% of state electricity demand. The three LNG plants on Curtis Island—GLNG, APLNG, and QCLNG—are Australia's only east coast liquefaction terminals, exporting 23.7 million tonnes in 2025. Most went to China (13.4 million tonnes), with South Korea, Malaysia, and Japan taking the rest.
The industrial hub generates $6.7 billion in regional economic output. From 2027, the three LNG exporters must reserve 25% of production for domestic supply—a government intervention responding to east coast gas shortages.
The next transformation is already planned. At least six green hydrogen projects propose over 6 GW of electrolysers. Economic modelling projects 11,000 new jobs by 2032, $7.8 billion in investment, and $2 billion annual revenue. Gladstone may transition from fossil fuel export to renewable energy production.
By 2026, Gladstone tests whether a town built on heavy industry can remake itself around decarbonization—while still running smelters, refineries, and LNG terminals.