Western Australia’s Pilbara region, home to some of the world’s largest iron ore producers, has been grappling with a series of operational challenges following extreme weather events. These disruptions began in mid-January with Tropical Cyclone Sean, which brought record rainfall to the region’s coastline. Rio Tinto issued a warning that its first-quarter shipments could be affected, citing flood damage at its East Intercourse Island (EII) port facility, which handled 45 million tons of iron ore shipments in 2024. The loading facility has remained closed since January 20, and is only expected to resume operations this week.
The challenges faced by the iron ore majors continued as two more cyclones, Taliah and Vince, formed off the western coast at the end of January. While neither system made landfall, Cyclone Taliah caused high sea swells and wave conditions due to its proximity to the coast. Rio Tinto was forced to clear vessels from its Cape Lambert and Dampier ports in response. The impact of this was starkly reflected in the data: shipments from Dampier during the affected week dropped by 52% week-on-week, while Cape Lambert saw an even steeper decline of 80%.
The disruptions continued with Tropical Cyclone Zelia, which recently made landfall on the Pilbara coast, forcing Port Hedland and other ports in the northwest to halt shipments and clear their vessels. Iron ore shipments in terms of vessel capacity plummeted by 5.9 million deadweight tons in the week — a staggering 42% week-on-week decline – though the infrastructure of the mining giants was largely unharmed. This was incredibly fortunate, considering that Zelia had originally been forecast to make landfall as a Category 5 cyclone, the strongest to impact the region since 2007.
Rio Tinto was able to bring iron ore carriers back into Cape Lambert and Dampier by late Saturday, while BHP reported that its mines, rail, and infrastructure at Port Hedland fared better than anticipated. However, road closures and widespread flooding in remote areas continue to present logistical challenges, while Fortescue has suspended all non-essential travel to its mines, prioritizing the safety of its workers.
As operations gradually resume, the focus now shifts to how quickly the miners can clear the backlog of shipments and restore full production capacity. BHP has already cautioned that output from its Western Australian operations will likely fall short of the upper half of its guidance range of 282 to 294 million tons. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto has kept their Pilbara shipment guidance for 2025 unchanged at 323 to 338 million tons.
The disruptions from the recent cyclones have resulted in significant short-term setbacks. As the region recovers and operations ramp up, stakeholders will be closely watching for any further developments during the cyclone season, which officially runs till April.
