Figures have been released for the extensive amount of export shipping from West Australia’s Pilbara region in the 2023-24 financial year, with a record-breaking 758.3 million tonnes of exports passing through its ports.
Those 758.3 million tonnes of export were valued at an estimated $173.2 billion.
It is the fifth year in a row Pilbara Ports experienced record-breaking throughput.
Over 7700 safe vessel visits were made over the course of the year at an average of 21 vessel visits per day across four operational ports.
The Port of Port Hedland was the most productive throughput in the region and accounted for over 570 million tonnes of exported goods, while the entire region accounted for 43 per cent of global iron ore trade.
Ports at Port Hedland and Dampier also accounted for 51 per cent of Australia’s salt production.
Ports Minister David Michael expressed his pride at another record-breaking year of export for the Pilbara.
“It’s fantastic to see Pilbara Ports continuing to meet industry’s growing export needs, as strong economic conditions across the Pilbara increase demand for port services,” Michael says.
“The Pilbara is the economic powerhouse of the nation, and these results are a clear example of that.”
“Our ports are gateways connecting the Pilbara to the global market,” Pilbara MLA Kevin Michel added. “I am proud of the significant impact we make on the world stage.
“Communities in the Pilbara continue to benefit from the success of our ports, with many local businesses being involved in achieving this strong result.”
The news of Pilbara Ports’ record-breaking year follows a recent announcement from West Australian mining giant Rio Tinto stating it had shipped its four billionth ton of iron ore to China.
Rio Tinto celebrated the mark after over 50 years of operation in the Chinese market, and ships roughly 250 million tons of iron ore to the Asian nation every year.
The record-breaking shipment was loaded at Dampier Port and was bound for China Baowu Steel Group.
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