"If the outer harbour grows as I expect it to, Maldon-Dombarton will transform its development from modest and incremental to dramatic and substantial," Mr Whitlam said.

He said the most exciting aspect of the expansion, which was revealed in yesterday's Mercury, was that the corporation could create a substantial port in a controlled fashion.

"If we can harness the demand either by diverting it from Sydney or attracting new investors, it will be a very big port indeed.

"And the bigger the port, the bigger the need for Maldon-Dombarton," he said.

Today, Mr Whitlam and corporation chief executive Dom Figliomeni will unveil details of the expansion plan to a Shipping Australia lunch at Panorama House, Bulli Tops. A keynote speaker at the lunch will be Cunningham MP Sharon Bird, who has led the push to have the Maldon-Dombarton rail link included as part of the $20 billion Building Australia Fund.

She is expected to tell today's lunch that the processes of establishing the terms of reference of a $300,000 pre-feasibility study have been completed.

Under the outer harbour master plan, 52ha of land will be reclaimed to build seven berths, almost doubling the port's capacity.

Yesterday, Mr Figliomeni also revealed the area between the northern breakwall and the eastern boundary of the coal terminal had been earmarked for a further four berths as part of long-term planning arrangements.

Mr Figliomeni said he expected the first of three stages of the expansion, involving land reclamation and one berth, would be operational by 2012.

"This is not pie in the sky stuff, this is real and exciting," he said.

He said a broad list of stakeholders had been drawn up for consultation and the plans had already attracted interest from both Australian and international companies.