Western Australia invests in Port Geraldton expansion

Western Australia's (WA) government will expand the Port of Geraldton to 25mn t/yr from 15mn t/yr, increasing its capacity to export iron ore, grains and battery minerals as well as allowing for planned ammonia exports.

WA, which expects to receive A$10.29bn ($7.13bn) from iron ore royalties in the 2021-22 year to 30 June, will invest A$332mn in expanding Geraldton by 2026. The upgrade will include debottlenecking of existing grain and iron ore export facilities, as well as new storage and product handling facilities to cater for the growing hydrogen and ammonia industries in the Mid-West region of WA.

Geraldton exported 10.12mn t of iron ore and 2.33mn t of grain in 2020-21 with a total throughput of 15.07mn t. The port is operating on the edge of its maximum capacity, with neither the ability to increase grains shipments following a bumper harvest nor to cater for the iron ore expansion plans of the Karara iron ore project and development plans by ammonia exporters.

There is no spare grain export capacity at any of the four major terminals in WA before October when the new harvest will begin in northern WA, according to data from the state's grain logistics firm CBH. Geraldton has allocated grain export capacity for a two-week period of up to 200,000t, Kwinana of up to 374,000t, Albany of up 188,000t and Esperance of up to 198,000 allowing for all slots until October, according to CBH.

This congestion comes despite CBH increasing its shipping capacity by 540,000t in March to meet increased demand following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Chinese steel producer Ansteel has applied to expand the 8mn t/yr Karara magnetite concentrate project in WA to as much as 37.6mn t/yr. But even the first stage to reach 15.4mn t/yr of concentrate will require a significant upgrade of Geraldton.

The existing iron ore and grains export businesses will also have to compete for port space at Geraldton with ambitious plans to build a major hydrogen and ammonia production industry in the Mid-West. Danish fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners plans to build a 2mn t/yr ammonia plant near Geraldton and BP is developing a pilot plant in the region to produce up to 20,000 t/yr of ammonia and 4,000 t/yr of hydrogen.

The port also exports mineral sands and metal concentrates, which could also be boosted as demand for battery minerals grows. It has completed an upgrade to the No.4 berth used for mineral exports and to accommodate cruise ships.

By Jo Clarke