Pilbara Ports Authority is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the Utah Point Bulk Handling Facility in Port Hedland which has shipped more than 172Mt of commodities in the decade since it began operating.
After receiving government approval in 2007, construction of the facility began in March 2009 with the first ore on shipment achieved in September 2010.
Since then, more than 1,750 vessels have berthed, with approximately $16.5 billion of products shipped through the facility.
Pilbara Ports Authority CEO Roger Johnston said the success of Utah is testament to PPA’s commitment to be the best in all it does, to operate safely and efficiently, and to work well with stakeholders in our community.
“We have delivered a strong safety performance at the facility over the last 10 years. We have had consistently good incident and hazard reporting, safe management of shutdowns, and positive collaboration and communication involving all stakeholders,” he said.
Mr Johnston said the anniversary is a significant milestone for Pilbara Ports Authority.
“Utah Point was built to service Western Australian junior miners and now has environmental regulatory approvals to handle up to 23.5 million tonnes of exports each year, with applications pending to increase the peak capacity of the facility to 26.5 million tonnes.
“In the 10 years it has been operating, more than 172Mt of commodities including iron ore, manganese ore, chromite ore and spodumene DSO have been exported, including 23.5Mt in 2016/2017,” Mr Johnston said.
He said Pilbara Ports Authority will continue to build on the success of Utah Point, and look forward to the next decade of operations.