BHP Billiton has received conditional approval for a AU$14 billion (US$14.7 billion) expansion of its iron-ore harbour in Western Australia to boost exports to steel mills, Bloomberg reports.
The spending on Port Hedland harbour, which includes rail, ore stockpiles and a 4-kilometre jetty, will add capacity of 240-million tonnes a year, the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority said yesterday in a statement on its website. The cost estimate comes from a report last year by the state's mines and petroleum department.
The enlarged port will help Melbourne-based BHP, which trails Brazil's Vale and Rio Tinto in iron-ore production, increase supply to China, the world's biggest steel maker. Over the next eight years, global supply of iron ore needs to rise by at least 100-million tonnes annually to meet demand and replace high-cost mines, according to Rio Tinto.
BHP, which said last week it would produce 159-million tonnes of iron ore in the year to June 30 after record quarterly output, may more than double capacity to about 350-million tonnes a year by 2020, according to a company presentation last November.
"We look forward to this next stage in the assessment process which involves a two-week public comment period followed by the Western Australian appeals convener's consideration of any appeals," said BHP spokeswoman Kelly Quirke.
Almost all of BHP's Australian-mined ore is exported through Port Hedland, which shipped 192.5 million tonnes in total last year, according to the Port Hedland Port Authority's website. The expansion of the port, which is also used by Fortescue Metals Group, may take eight years, according to the Environmental Protection Authority.
Portnews.ru
Disclosure: Members of the Baird family or companies in the Baird Publications group own shares in BHP Billiton.
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