Australian iron ore region emerges unscathed after cyclone

PERTH: A powerful tropical cyclone which pounded Australia's leading iron ore region at the weekend appears to have passed without causing any serious damage and shipping operations have already resumed in the area.

Port Hedland, the region's largest iron ore terminal, closed the anchorage for 66 hours and the port for a total of 52 hours due to Tropical Cyclone Lua, which crossed the coast some 100 kms (60 miles) north in a sparsely populated area on Saturday afternoon.

"It's amazing. By early today (Sunday) we had been in contact with all the towns, communities and the mining operations in the regions affected by the cyclone and everyone is okay," Fire and Emergency Service manager Les Hayter told reporters.

"There has been no damage to major infrastructure and no injuries reported due to the cyclone," he said.

"I have to pinch myself. It's as if a category 1 cyclone passed through here, not a category 4." Category 4 is the second most powerful cyclone on the Australian scale.

"All the cyclone planning and preparation is really paying off and of course there's been an element of luck. There are reports of tree damage in Port Hedland, which is amazing considering the town was hit by winds of 150-180 kilometres an hour."

The Port Hedland Port Authority said in a statement t it was reopening both the anchorage and port.

Australia's second- and third-biggest iron ore miners, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group, both export through Port Hedland.

The weather bureau on Sunday downgraded the cyclone which hit land with wind speeds of up to 270 kms an hour, to a severe weather warning for the inland northern goldfields region. Wind speeds of up to 100 kms an hour and heavy rain were still expected, the bureau said.

Supply concerns because of the cyclone along with recent gains in Chinese steel prices helped spur iron ore prices to the highest in nearly four months on Friday.

Cyclones regularly strike during Australia's summer and often force offshore oil and gas platforms to suspend operations.