West Australian iron ore exports end 2022 on a high

Western Australia's (WA) iron ore exports from the key Pilbara ports of Port Hedland and Dampier hit a high for 2022 in December, with a new yearly record set for the multi-user Port Hedland facility.

Port Hedland shipped 559.7mn t of iron ore in 2022, up from the previous record of 546.05mn t set in 2021, according to data from the Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA). Port Hedland exported 49.27mn t in December, up by 3.6pc from November but down by 3.1pc on December 2021. The 2022 record was helped by a relatively clam wet season and the debottlenecking of operations by the ports largest users — BHP, Fortescue, Roy Hill and Mineral Resources.

The Pilbara has had a dry start to January, with a maximum of 25mm of rain falling across most of the region in the first two weeks. Shipments eased from Dampier in the first week of January as Rio Tinto paused after a strong end to 2022.

Port Dampier shipped 13.28mn t of iron ore in December, up from 12.57mn t in November but down from 13.31mn t in December 2021. Dampier shipped 136.38mn t in 2022 compared with 136.06mn t in 2021 and 138mn t in 2020. Rio Tinto is the only iron ore producer to ship through Dampier and struggled to maintain throughput in 2022 as it increased operations at its new 43mn t/yr Gudai-Darri mine and other volume replacement projects.

China accounted for 84pc of the volumes shipped from Port Hedland in December compared with 87pc in November and 83pc in December 2021. China took 86pc of Port Hedland's iron ore shipments in 2022, up from 83pc in 2021 but down from around 87pc in 2020 when Covid-19 lockdowns in other countries weighed on demand.

Shipments from Port Hedland to China totalled 482.4mn t in 2022, up by 6pc on 2021. Port Hedland's exports to Japan and South Korea continued to recover from a weak October but shipments trended lower than in December 2021. There were no shipments in December to Vietnam from Port Hedland for the first month since October 2020.

BHP, Fortescue, Roy Hill, Hancock Prospecting and Mineral Resources export iron ore through Port Hedland. Rio Tinto has four independent shipping terminals split across Cape Lambert and Dampier.

The Argus ICX 62pc iron ore index was at $126.80/dry metric tonne (dmt) cfr Qingdao on 13 January, up from $94.50/t on 14 November and from $79/dmt on 31 October that was the lowest level since January 2021.

By Jo Clarke

Iron ore prices ($/dmt)