All ships berthed at Port Hedland have been cleared out by the Pilbara Ports Authority as Tropical Cyclone Ilsa approaches Western Australia. Port Hedland will remain closed until the cyclone passes.

Port Hedland is a key seaborne gateway for mineral and metal exports and is one of the world's largest iron ore export ports, with around 10 iron ore carriers leaving the port each day.

In February of this year, Port Hedland exported approximately 39.3 million tonnes of goods, of which 38.8 million tonnes were iron ore, mainly destined for China.

In March 2019, Tropical Cyclone Veronica hit the coast and since then, Port Hedland has not been forced to close. Veronica brought destructive wind speeds of over 200 km/h and rainfall that was 5-7 times the average for March.

At that time, Port Hedland was closed for five days, resulting in an estimated reduction of 14 million tonnes in Rio Tinto's iron ore production, a reduction of 6-8 million tonnes in BHP's production, and a reduction of 2 million tonnes in FMG's production.

(Writing by Alex Guo  Editing by Harry Huo)
For any questions, please contact us by inquiry@fwenergy.com or +86-351-7219322.

Share this article

Connect with us