MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Western Australia’s iron ore hub of Port Hedland will be cleared early on Wednesday as a tropical cyclone approaches, the Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) said on Tuesday.
A low pressure weather system is expected to intensify and reach tropical cyclone strength later in the day. It is expected to strengthen further in coming days with a possibility of reaching Port Hedland on Friday, the authority said.
“Pilbara Ports Authority will start clearing vessels from the Port of Port Hedland inner harbour from 2 a.m. (1900 GMT) tomorrow, on high tide. All port anchorages within the Port of Port Hedland boundary have been cleared,” it said.
Australia’s weather bureau raised an alert for the north western region. “A severe impact is likely along the coast between Port Hedland and Broome, during late Thursday or early Friday,” it said.
Port Hedland is the world’s biggest export point for iron ore and is used by BHP Group, Fortescue and billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, while Rio Tinto exports out of Port of Dampier.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Tom Hogue and Jacqueline Wong)
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