Pilbara iron ore ports closed as cyclone looms

Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA), the world's largest bulk export port authority managing key ports in Western Australia for iron ore exports, closed several ports on Thursday in preparation for the arrival for Tropical Cyclone Narelle, according to the authority's latest alerts issued on March 26.

The ports of Ashburton, Cape Preston West, Dampier and Varanus Island had all been closed by 9:00 a.m. local time on Thursday. Berths at these ports had started being cleared two days earlier, the alert said. Nonetheless, Port Hedland, the world's largest iron ore dispatch hub also run by PPA,