Bloomberg News | February 14, 2025 |
Australia’s Port Hedland, the world’s largest bulk-export terminal, handles cargoes for BHP, Fortescue Metals and Hancock Prospecting. (Image courtesy of The Western Australian Land Information Authority)
Severe Cyclone Zelia has made landfall near Australia’s iron ore export hub, bringing heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts, with the system threatening big mines and crucial rail links as it tracks inland.
The powerful cyclone crossed the coast to the east of Port Hedland, the nation’s biggest iron ore export harbor, packing very destructive wind gusts of up to 290 kilometers (180 miles) per hour near its center, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Winds that strong flatten structures and buckle power lines.
Port Hedland avoided the destructive core of the storm, the bureau said, which made landfall as a Category 5, the strongest on the Australian scale. The system will weaken as it moves inland, but will still have cyclone strength as it tracks through the major iron ore mining region of the Pilbara, which hosts global miners including Rio Tinto Group and BHP Group.
Intense rainfall threatens to flood massive open-cut mines and swamp rail lines to ports, potentially disrupting shipments. Iron ore prices in Singapore spiked above $108 a ton on Friday to a four-month high, before easing.
While the Pilbara region is a sparsely populated area, the coastal town of Port Hedland has around 16,000 residents. The harbor was shuttered earlier this week along with other regional ports, which also export natural gas.
Western Australia’s state emergency organizer said on Friday that the storm was creating a threat to lives and homes, urging residents to shelter indoors and warning it was too late to leave buildings.
Australia is the biggest shipper of iron ore, with the steelmaking material accounting for 21% of total goods and services exports in the year to June 2024, worth A$138 billion ($87.2 billion). Zelia is the first Category 5 cyclone to cross near Port Hedland since George in 2007, according to the bureau.
While export ports have been lashed by heavy rain this year from a series of storms, this is the first cyclone of the season to make landfall and threaten mining operations and their rail links. Cyclone Sean damaged a port facility owned by Rio last month, but the storm stayed offshore.
Fortescue Ltd. has shut its Iron Bridge mine 145 kilometers south of Port Hedland, according to a spokesperson. The operation produces a high-grade, wet concentrate product that’s sent via pipeline to the harbor for export.
Ports reopen
BHP and Rio said Thursday they were putting their cyclone preparations in place, which includes suspending non-essential travel. Liquefied natural gas export terminals are also located throughout the region, mainly operated by Woodside Energy Group Ltd. and Chevron Corp.
Dampier — which exports iron ore and LNG — and Varanus Island have been reopened after inspections of channels and berths, according to Pilbara Ports. Assets operated by Woodside are returning to normal, a spokesperson said.
(By Keira Wright and Paul-Alain Hunt)
Tropical cyclone forces closure of ports in Western Australia’s Pilbara region
Reuters | February 13, 2025 |
The Cape Lambert port is one of two terminals Rio Tinto uses to ship iron ore from Australia’s Pilbara mining region. (Image courtesy of BigLift)
Western Australia’s ports of Dampier and Varanus Island will be closed at 6 p.m. on Thursday due to Tropical Cyclone Zelia, the ports’ operator said, with emergency services in the state warning of the potential for significant damage.
Zelia, which has been upgraded to the strongest possible Category 5 storm, is due to make landfall on Friday in the remote Pilbara region, home to major ports used for commodities exports, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said.
“The intensity of Tropical Cyclone Zelia means there is significant threat to lives and property and I urge people to follow the directions of emergency services in the Pilbara,” Darren Klemm, head of Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services, told a news conference on Thursday.
The Port of Dampier, which mostly ships iron ore from Rio Tinto, and Varanus Island, a gathering and processing hub for oil and gas, have started clearing vessels, Pilbara Ports said in a statement.
On liquefied natural gas facilities in the region, a Shell spokesperson said on Thursday that challenging conditions are forecast until February 16, and offtakes have been postponed from its Prelude floating LNG production facility off Western Australia until then.
Woodside Energy, which operates Pluto LNG and the North West Shelf LNG plant in western Australia, said it is taking the necessary precautions to safeguard its people and assets.
The closures come after Pilbara Ports on Wednesday shut Port Hedland, the world’s biggest export point for iron ore and used by BHP Group, Fortescue and billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.
Port Hedland is at particular risk from the cyclone because its buildings are older, Klemm said.
“If the track was to shift more to the east and we would see a significant impact on Port Hedland,” he said.
Category 5 storms have a maximum wind speed of more than 280 kph (174mph) the BOM’s Western Australia manager James Ashley told the news conference.
Storms of Zelia’s magnitude are rare, with the last hitting in April 2023, he added.
(By Renju Jose, Alasdair Pal and Emily Chow; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kate Mayberry)
Reuters | February 13, 2025 |
The Cape Lambert port is one of two terminals Rio Tinto uses to ship iron ore from Australia’s Pilbara mining region. (Image courtesy of BigLift)
Western Australia’s ports of Dampier and Varanus Island will be closed at 6 p.m. on Thursday due to Tropical Cyclone Zelia, the ports’ operator said, with emergency services in the state warning of the potential for significant damage.
Zelia, which has been upgraded to the strongest possible Category 5 storm, is due to make landfall on Friday in the remote Pilbara region, home to major ports used for commodities exports, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said.
“The intensity of Tropical Cyclone Zelia means there is significant threat to lives and property and I urge people to follow the directions of emergency services in the Pilbara,” Darren Klemm, head of Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services, told a news conference on Thursday.
The Port of Dampier, which mostly ships iron ore from Rio Tinto, and Varanus Island, a gathering and processing hub for oil and gas, have started clearing vessels, Pilbara Ports said in a statement.
On liquefied natural gas facilities in the region, a Shell spokesperson said on Thursday that challenging conditions are forecast until February 16, and offtakes have been postponed from its Prelude floating LNG production facility off Western Australia until then.
Woodside Energy, which operates Pluto LNG and the North West Shelf LNG plant in western Australia, said it is taking the necessary precautions to safeguard its people and assets.
The closures come after Pilbara Ports on Wednesday shut Port Hedland, the world’s biggest export point for iron ore and used by BHP Group, Fortescue and billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.
Port Hedland is at particular risk from the cyclone because its buildings are older, Klemm said.
“If the track was to shift more to the east and we would see a significant impact on Port Hedland,” he said.
Category 5 storms have a maximum wind speed of more than 280 kph (174mph) the BOM’s Western Australia manager James Ashley told the news conference.
Storms of Zelia’s magnitude are rare, with the last hitting in April 2023, he added.
(By Renju Jose, Alasdair Pal and Emily Chow; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kate Mayberry)
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