Tropical storm to shut down Port Hedland
Australia’s main iron ore export terminal of Port Hedland is set to shut down operations on Tuesday due to a tropical storm threat.
According to wire reports, loading operations at the port had been taking place normally in the morning but ships waiting to dock were evacuating to safe waters as the tropical low, which is predicted to reach cyclone strength on Wednesday, makes its way towards the port.
The storm is forecast to intensify to a Category 1 cyclone, the lowest level storm, early on Wednesday, and gales of up to 55 knots could develop between Pardoo and Dampier, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Port Hedland is used by BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals and Atlas Iron to ship ore, currently at a rate of around 200 million tonnes per year.
Meanwhile, a second storm in Australia’s northeast has temporarily halted shipments of zinc concentrate from a mine owned by China’s MMG.
