The Western Australia (WA) government plans to reopen its borders on 3 March to vaccinated interstate and international travelers as double vaccination rates rise and the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the state passes 3,000.
The WA government had planned to ease border restrictions on 5 February, but delayed the reopening after seeing how quickly the Omicron variant was spreading in the eastern Australian states. But the pandemic has reached the state and double vaccination rates have increased to over 95pc, prompting the government to set a new date of 3 March to reopen.
Fully vaccinated interstate and international passengers will be allowed to enter the state after 3 March without going through two weeks of quarantine, as long as they take a test within 12 hours of arriving.
Major WA mining firms have been putting pressure on the government to reopen the borders, despite warnings that workforce absenteeism could drag on the output of key commodities like iron ore, battery metals and base metals from January to June as the pandemic moves across the state. The opening of the borders will also allow the free movement of skilled workers into the state, which could offset the manpower losses as employees meet isolation requirements, WA mining contractor Maca said today.
WA iron ore producers Rio Tinto, BHP, Fortescue and Mineral Resources all have Covid-safe plans in place that they believe should reduce the impact of the pandemic, but Rio Tinto has set an unambitious iron ore export target for 2022. The firm will issue its 2021 full year financial results on Wednesday.
The Covid-19 wave of infection that passed through the eastern Australian states at the end of 2021 and into 2022 has dampened coking and thermal coal production and sales from Queensland and Victoria, contributing to a high price environment.
Argus assessed the ICX iron ore price on 18 February at $131.35/dry metric tonne (dmt) cfr Qingdao on a 62pc Fe basis, down from a 2022 peak of $153.55/dmt on 10 February, but up from $90.70/dmt on 17 November. Argus assessed 58pc Fe at $109.70/dmt cfr Qingdao, down from $127.90/dmt on 10 February but up from $64.30/dmt on 17 November.
