# Port Hedland (AU PHE)

**UN/LOCODE:** AU PHE  
**Country:** Australia  
**Water Body:** Indian Ocean  
**Harbor Size:** Large  
**Harbor Type:** River (Natural)  
**GPS:** -20.3167, 118.5833

Port Hedland's harbour looks modest on a chart, yet it moved 580.4 million tonnes in financial year 2025/26 – more cargo by weight than any other port on earth. Almost all of it is Pilbara iron ore shipped by BHP, Fortescue, Roy Hill and Mineral Resources across roughly 19 berths, with a single-month record of 51.7 million tonnes in December 2025 (UN/LOCODE AU PHE). The tidal river channel is narrow, so laden Capesize and VLOC carriers sail in tightly scheduled high-tide convoys rather than on demand. Salt and manganese add small further export volumes, while container and general-cargo traffic has so far been essentially absent. That gap is being closed at Lumsden Point, where Pilbara Ports is building a non-tidal general cargo facility backed by AUD 450 million in federal and AUD 96.6 million in Western Australian funding, the first of two wharves due mid-2026 for lithium and copper concentrate exports and wind turbine and solar panel imports. Inland links run over the miners' private heavy-haul railways and road trains rather than a public rail network, and the Lumsden Interchange opened in March 2026 to ease truck access. Shippers with containers or breakbulk for Western Australia should still route via Fremantle near Perth, while Rio Tinto ore moves through Dampier some 250 km to the south-west.

## Transit Times & Routes

- [Sydney → Shanghai](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/sydney-shanghai)
- [Sydney → Shenzhen](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/sydney-shenzhen)
- [Sydney → Guangzhou](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/sydney-guangzhou)
- [Sydney → Hong Kong](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/sydney-hong-kong)
- [Sydney → Tokyo](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/sydney-tokyo)
- [Sydney → Busan](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/sydney-busan)

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*Freight Academy — Seaport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/port-hedland-port-au-phe](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/port-hedland-port-au-phe)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/seaports/en/port-hedland-port-au-phe](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/seaports/en/port-hedland-port-au-phe)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/seaports/port-hedland-port-au-phe/llm-summary?lang=en*