SPEAKING at the 23rd Annual Global Iron Ore and Steel Forecast Conference in Perth, Pilbara Ports Authority’s general manager of development and trade, Lyle Banks, said there had been a $324.5m capital spend at the Port of Port Hedland in the five years to 30 June 2020.
The investment in projects such as the Hedland Tower, the Channel Risk Optimisation Project and the Channel Marker Replacement Program had helped equip the port for sustainable growth for the next 25 years.
Cutting-edge technologies in place at the port, including metocean monitoring equipment, simulation training and the Dynamic Under Keel Clearance system, have helped the port achieve higher capacity and, in turn, set new records.
The investments appear to be paying off. PPA ports achieved record exports in 2019/20 of around $120.8bn worth of products.
This year the port achieved numerous records including iron ore export volumes increasing by 103%, from 328.8Mtpa in 2010/11 to 667.6Mtpa in 2019/20.
The ‘million tonnes on a tide’ efficiency marker was achieved once in 2012, 107 times in 2019 and that number has already been passed in the 2020 year to date.
Investment is also being made in multi-user infrastructure to diversify trade through the ports. New biosecurity facilities are being installed at each of the ports, enabling containers to be shipped directly from Singapore to the Pilbara.
The first service, operated by ANL shipping, commenced in November with a second announced to commence in December.
