AN ECONOMIC value study into the contribution of the port of Port Hedland has found it alone is responsible for approximately 4% of Australia’s national economy.
The ACIL Allen study, commissioned by the Port Hedland Industries Council, examined the 2022-23 financial year and estimates the total economic contribution of the Port Hedland Port Supply Chain within the town of Port Hedland was approximately $2.01 billion in 2022-23, reflecting $678 million of direct contribution and $1.33 billion of indirect contribution. Overall, the PHSC supported 8,158 direct and indirect FTE (full-time equivalent) jobs in the town in 2022-23, accounting for 74% of total employment.
PHSC accounted for $60.57 billion in direct economic output in the Pilbara region in 2022-23, with an additional $2.71 billion of indirect output supported throughout the region. The total economic contribution of PHSC within the Pilbara Region was approximately $63.28 billion in 2022-23, accounting almost three quarters of the region’s economy in 2022-23.
For WA, ACIL Allen estimates the total economic contribution of PHSC in the state economy was approximately $90.68 billion in 2022-23. Some $70.48 billion of this was direct economic output, with the balance ($20.21 billion) contributed on an indirect basis.
“Significantly, the results suggest PHSC accounted for over one fifth of all activity in the WA economy in 2022-23,” the report found. “PHSC generated significantly higher levels of output than any other WA industry, aside from mining.
“The overall direct and indirect contribution of PHSC equated to approximately four times the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the construction industry and more than eight times the GVA of the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry. As a result, it is estimated that approximately one in every nine full-time jobs in WA in 2022-23 were either directly or indirectly supported by the port of Port Hedland and the trade that is facilitated through the port.”
And on a national basis, PHSC contributed $70.58 billion in direct economic output to the national economy in 2022-23. The activities of PHSC in Australia generated $33.15 billion of indirect economic output. Together, the total economic contribution of PHSC within Australia was approximately $103.73 billion in 2022-23.
As a result, economic activity either directly or indirectly supported by the port and the trade that is facilitated through the port equated to approximately 4% of the national economy,” ACIL Allen found.
This is the third such report the consultancy has complete for the PHIC, whose member comprise BHP, Fortescue, Pilbara Ports Authority, Roy Hill Mining, ConsMin, Pilbara Minerals, Sandfire Resources and, as an associate member, Qube.
The previous reports were completed in 2017 and 2020.
