The Australian port of Dampier, which handles close to a fifth of the world’s seabourne iron ore trade for resources giant Rio Tinto , will reopen on Saturday after a two-day closure due to a cyclone off the northwest Australian coast.
“The cyclone danger has passed and we will be resume ship loading later on Saturday morning,” a spokeswoman for the port told Reuters, adding the port had suffered no damage despite being hit by high seas as the storm passed some 400 kilometers out to seas.
A second smaller port, Cape Lambert, which was also closed due to the cyclone and is used by Rio Tinto was also expected to resume operations.
International prices paid for iron ore, which is needed to make steel, have been climbing ahead of the start of the Australian cyclone season, which typically runs from November to April, in part over concerns shipments could face delays.
Narelle is the first cyclone of the last year-13 season.
Most the iron ore is contracted by Chinese steel mills, with Japanese and South Korean mills also big buyers.