Australian Port Hedland iron ore terminal reopens after cyclone

Wednesday, 23 Feb 2011

Australia's Port Hedland, one of the world's largest export terminals for iron ore, reopened on Wednesday following a two day suspension due to a cyclone.

Mr John Finch port's harbourmaster said "There was no damage and the cyclone just passed."

A cyclone bearing down on Western Australia on Tuesday has brought iron ore shipments from the world's top exporter to a near standstill as ports shut ahead of the storm.

Two of the world's largest iron ore terminals at Port of Dampier and Port Hedland have suspended operations as Cyclone Carlos builds and sweeps toward the country's northwest. Nearly all of Australia's around 400 million tonnes of iron ore exports are shipped from the two ports.

Gales with wind gusts to 110 kilometres per hour were slamming into coastal areas west of Port Hedland and were heading westward towards Dampier, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

Cyclones are a normal fixture of an Australian summer but the national weather bureau has indicated that above average cyclone activity is to be expected this season due to a La Nina weather event.

(Sourced from Reuters)

Pilbara region takes cover as cyclone hits home

By Andrew Burrell
February 23, 2011 12:00AM

MAJOR petroleum and mining projects in Western Australia's Pilbara region were forced to suspend operations for the third time in a month yesterday as Tropical Cyclone Carlos battered the coast with 140km/h winds and heavy rain.

Loading of ships for export was halted after authorities at Port Hedland, which is used by iron ore miners BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group, suspended operations due to the cyclone.

Plants across the Pilbara have experienced heavy rains that closed rail lines and roads.

A spokeswoman for Woodside Petroleum said production from its Enfield oilfield and Cossack Pioneer floating facility had stopped, while production from its Vincent oilfield remained shut-in due to planned maintenance.

Woodside chief executive Don Voelte said on Monday that plans for the $14 billion Pluto project near Karratha to be completed by August could be delayed by the wild weather in recent weeks, including Tropical Cyclone Bianca that hit the Pilbara last month.

The cyclones caused 20 days of lost production, which might not be recoverable, Mr Voelte said. "At this late stage of the project, it might be hard to make up any or all of that time," he said.

"It's a fact of life -- it's raining and raining and raining up there."

Apache Corporation said it halted production at its Stag and Van Gogh fields off Western Australia before Carlos, but output at Varanus Island continued.

On Monday, Rio Tinto warned that shipping volumes were likely to be affected this quarter as cyclones Carlos and Dianne hampered its operations.

Dianne moved further off the coast this week.

Fortescue said it was waiting to hear from the harbourmaster at Port Hedland as to when the port would reopen.

A spokeswoman for the port said it remained closed and on "yellow alert", although there was an expectation operations might resume late yesterday.

Smaller mine company Murchison Metals said its Jack Hills iron ore project in WA's mid-west had been suspended for at least 14 days because of heavy rain and floods, forcing at least two export shipments set to leave the port of Geraldton next month to be delayed.

(sourced:The Australian, Additional reporting:Dow Jones Newswires)

Tags:BHP Billiton, Australia's Fortescue Metals Group, Murchison Metals, Port of Geraldton, Australian iron ore shipment, raw material