The Australian iron ports at Hedland and Dampier have been reopened to shipping following the passing of tropical cyclone Veronica.
“There was no significant infrastructure damage at any of the ports and operations will return to normal over the next 24 hours,” Pilbara Ports Authority said.
With cyclone Veronica now well clear of Port Hedland it was re-opened at 0900 on 26 March after being closed for 92.5 hours.
“A plan has been implemented to re-populate the berths and anchorages in a staged manner over the next 24 hours,” said agency company GAC.
Meanwhile, normal operations have resumed at Port of Dampier as of 0600 (AWST) Wednesday morning after a closure of 132 hours.
The Wheatstone Project LNG export facility at the Port of Ashburton was also re-opened on Tuesday afternoon after a closure of 109.5 hours.
Meanwhile, miners say they have begun restarting export operations following the forced closure of ports in recent days.
"Following the all clear from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services yesterday, we have been able to conduct initial assessments at our port operations," BHP told TradeWinds.
"We have found no major damage to our operations and overall site clean-up work, systems and equipment safety checks are in progress.
"Our employees and contractors have commenced returning to work in preparation for production to recommence. We expect to restart loading ships today with production ramping up over the next few days."
Fortescue told TradeWinds that it had recommenced shipments during the Tuesday afternoon from inventory at Port Hedland.
It added that rail operations were expected to resume Wednesday following localised flooding which is now subsiding.
Fortescue said it is "currently working with customers" to reschedule shipments delayed by the closure of the port.
A spokesperson for Rio Tinto told Platts: “With weather clearing, staff will gradually start returning to affected port and rail sites today with normal operations to resume once it is safe to do so.”
The Rio Tinto spokesman added that its Weipa operations in Queensland have returned to normal activities, with both ports fully operational by Sunday afternoon.
Rio produces bauxite from the Weipa operations, which is shipped to international customers, but the majority is supplied to local refineries.
