Pilbara Ports Authority in Western Australia cleared iron ore ports on Friday ahead of an anticipated cyclone over the weekend. This disrupted shipping from the world’s biggest iron ore export terminals and threatened offshore production of LNG.
Pilbara Ports Authority cleared vessels from outer anchorages at Port Hedland, which is used by major miners BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group for shipping all their ore. The nearby port of Dampier, used by Rio Tinto Australia’s biggest supplier of the steelmaking raw material, as well as the port of Asburton, were also cleared of vessels.
However, the tropical low that had developed in the Indian Ocean did not threaten the mainland, although it did result in some heavy rain. Landfall is not now likely until later this week, at Broome, significantly to the east of Port Hedland.