Exports up at Pilbara Ports

A ramp-up of iron ore exports has lifted annual throughput at Port Hedland to a new record of 460.4 million tonnes, with the combined Pilbara Ports Authority tracking for a figure of 633.5mt per year.

Tonnage at Port Hedland was 3 per cent higher than the 445mt in the 2015 financial year, a number that has more than doubled in the past decade.

Further west at the Port of Dampier, annual throughput was marginally up 200,000t to 173mt, with June throughput 10 per cent higher than last year.

Across the authority’s three ports- Ashburton being the third- tonnage was up 2 per cent, or 13mt.

Almost all of the tonnage is exports, with the vast majority bulk iron ore shipments.

There are a range of other products, however, including liquefied natural gas, manganese and salt.

A range of northern ports are not controlled by the authority as they are declared under the Shipping and Pilotage Act 1967.

That includes Chevron’s Gorgon terminal on Barrow Island, the Wheatstone facility at Onslow, and Sino Iron at Cape Preston.

Rio Tinto has four shipping terminals, two each at Dampier and Cape Lambert, with the Dampier exports under the jurisdiction of the Pilbara Ports Authority, while Cape Lambert throughput is not included.

With sales of 76.7mt in the March quarter, an estimate for shipping through those two ports over the year would be about 310mt.