Australia iron ore shipments resume after cyclone passes
Post Date: 04 Jan 2014 Viewed: 327
Iron ore shipments from northern Australia, the world's biggest exporter, resumed following a two day halt as Tropical Cyclone Christine lost strength over the nation's resource rich Pilbara region.
Dampier Port Authority's acting chief executive officer Paul Toussaint-Jackson said that shipments restarted at Dampier Port, about 1,500 kilometres north of Perth, at 6pm on Tuesday after they were halted late last Sunday. He said that "All is back to normal.”
Spokesman Bruce Tobin said that staff at Rio Tinto Group, the world's largest iron ore exporting company after Vale SA, were returning to work at its port and rail sites in the region. Rio has a combined export capacity of 225 million tonnes at its Dampier and Cape Lambert terminals, according to the company.
Port Hedland, the world's largest ore-export terminal, was assessing the impact of the storm and preparing to resume operations, Port Hedland Port Authority said on Tuesday. The facility, which exports iron ore from mines owned by BHP Billiton Ltd and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, shipped about 252 million tonnes in 2012.