Photo: International Graphite.
Southern Ports has not been approached by Australian company International Graphite to export the critical mineral out of Esperance but Port officials said they would “throw their hat in the ring” if it made sense.
International Graphite is developing a mine site near Hopetoun and constructing a new processing plant in Collie, WA, as part of its mine-to-market strategy to become a key global player in graphite exports.
The company has plans to transport the processed graphite from Collie to Fremantle Port before shipping it internationally.
Just last week, International Graphite said it was also planning a second processing plant in Germany to support Europe’s efforts to secure critical minerals and alleviate supply chain risks associated with geopolitical tensions.
Southern Ports Esperance CEO Kieth Wilks said they had not investigated the possibility of shipping graphite out of Esperance but said International Graphite had most likely determined the best supply chain was in containers, best suited to Fremantle.
“[Esperance] can do containers, but we are not on the line trades — regular container runs — the containers we used to do were through FQM,” Mr Wilks said.
“We’d import the Sulfur through them and they’d put it through the plant and then we’d export it to various places.”
Southern Ports regional manager Scott Bates said proximity and quantity were core factors in its viability to ship out of Esperance.
“The smaller tonnages make more sense to go to Fremantle because of the shipping distance,” he said.
“Most of the vessels will come from Southeast Asia and go to Perth, but if you go to Esperance it’s an extra eight days, so it mitigates cost savings and trading out that way.”
Mr Bates said they would follow-up with International Graphite, in any case.
