WHILE it hasn’t all been smooth sailing at Western Australia’s Southern Ports in recent months the group has posted a record-breaking year.
Trade records were broken across its three ports at Albany, Bunbury and Esperance with caustic soda, 1.6 million tonnes exported, and fertiliser, more than 539,000 tonnes imported, performing particularly strongly.
Southern Ports broke nine trade records across its three ports at Albany, Bunbury and Esperance.
Spodumene, from which lithium is extracted, exports broke records for the fourth year in a row. A total of 2.47 million tonnes of spodumene left Southern Ports’ ports, comprising more than 1.43 million tonnes from the Port of Bunbury and 1.04 million tonnes from the Port of Esperance, topping the one million tonne threshold for the first time.
Southern Ports chief executive officer Keith Wilks said that it had again been a strong year for trade.
“Southern Ports has looked to capitalise on new and emerging opportunities which has put us in a position to grow,” Mr Wilks said.
“As the market for spodumene spreads across the globe, we are proud that our ports at Bunbury and Esperance continue to be international leaders in facilitating trade within that market.”
On the negative side of events in June, the closure of the Yilgarn iron ore operation was cause for concern.
But more records were broken at the ports of Albany and Esperance in June, when both handled record-breaking single shipments of fertiliser when the Brave Eagle offloaded 31,000 tonnes in Albany before the African Inspiration delivered almost 50,000 tonnes in Esperance.
“We were pleased to support agriculture sector demand and ensure there was enough fertiliser imported to assist with the growing season, including welcoming some of the biggest shipments of fertiliser we’ve seen.”
Other individual port records included caustic soda imports at the Port of Bunbury (1.6 million tonnes) and fuel imports at the Port of Esperance (409,360 tonnes), the latter of which was at its highest since 2008 (when it was formerly Esperance Port Authority).
“Records are a great chance to reflect on the past year, but success and growth cannot be measured only by bulk commodity tonnages going through Southern Ports gates,” Mr Wilks said.
“Our ports have demonstrated great capability to adapt to unique trade opportunities by supporting projects key to growing our regions, particularly the role we play in enabling a clean energy future.”
“This was most evident by the close to 27,000 tonnes of break bulk cargo being imported through the Port of Bunbury, much of which was made up of components for the Albemarle’s Kemerton Lithium Plant expansion and Enel Group’s Flat Rock Wind Farm Project.”
