North American fertilizer producer Nutrien has been assessing the damage to its bulk fertilizer storage facility at Kwinana port in Western Australia (WA) following a fire, it said on Monday.
The fire broke out on 9 February and affected some port infrastructure at the Kwinana bulk jetty, including Nutrien's bulk fertilizer site holding granular products, but there was no damage to the company's liquid bulk fertilizer storage or chemical manufacturing facilities.
The bulk jetty is owned and operated by Fremantle Ports. It handles bulk commodities such as fertilizers, sulphur, cement clinker, petroleum products and bitumen.
The fire damaged the import system conveyor, associated transfer towers and a shed leased for the storage of fertilizer, Fremantle Ports said in a statement.
It is hoped that shipping operations will recommence this week, subject to a number of assessments and conditions being met, the firm added.
"We are assessing the damage to our site and working closely with Fremantle Ports to confirm new access routes, adjusted shipping schedules and alternate storage solutions to ensure we minimise any impact to our supply chain," regional manager Andrew Duperouzel said in a statement. The company did not reply to queries from Argus about products and volumes affected by the fire and did not provide any preliminary estimates on how long repair works might take.
Nutrien operates storage facilities in other port terminals in WA, including Geraldton, Esperance and Albany. It said it was focused on ensuring products continue to be dispatched to its farmer customers across the state in a "timely manner".
Kwinana is one of the major west coast hubs for fertilizer imports in Australia. Finished fertilizers and sulphur accounted for a combined total of around 1.6mn t of bulk imports in Kwinana in the July 2022-June 2023 fiscal year, surpassed only by refined petroleum, according to Fremantle Ports' website.
