Booming ports underpin $650bn trade flows and 694,000 jobs

Australian ports are supporting $650bn in annual trade flows and 694,000 jobs, with 31,102 vessels moving more than 1.6 billion tonnes in annual trade volumes dominated by iron ore and resources.

Australia’s ports are dominated by resources trade. Picture: David Gray

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Australian ports are supporting $650bn in annual trade flows and 694,000 jobs, with 31,102 vessels passing through the nation’s waterfront gateways each year moving more than 1.6 billion ­tonnes in trade volumes dominated by iron ore, coal and other ­resources.

The inaugural State of Trade report, drawing from data provided for the first time by the ­nation’s ports, reveals Australian ports are responsible for 99 per cent of the country’s international trade by volume and contribute $264bn to annual Gross State Product.

The economic impact study commissioned by Ports Australia shows that Western Australia, Queensland and NSW ports lead the country, with iron ore, LNG, coal and other resources commodities flowing from Port Hedland, Gladstone and Newcastle ports.

After the Covid pandemic shone a light on supply chains and the importance of Australia’s port networks as an island nation, the report shows iron ore accounting for about 36 per cent of total exports in volume, ahead of coal at 14 per cent, metals and minerals at 14 per cent and agriculture and food at 13 per cent.

Mining makes up 64 per cent of Australia’s total exports by value, while half of Australia’s imports by volume continue to be oil, fuel and gas. Ports facilitate the annual import of more than seven million full containers, including building materials and machinery supporting the construction industry. Almost 1.3 million motor vehicles were imported through Australian ports, which was a 31 per cent increase over five years.

There were 1633 cruise vessel visits in 2022-23, which was 18 per cent higher than pre-pandemic, bringing in more than 1.6 million cruise passengers.

     

Ports Australia chief executive Mike Gallacher, who was appointed in 2017 following a 21-year political career in which he served as NSW police minister, will join Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday to launch the report.

Mr Gallacher, who represents 21 port entities including more than 50 operational ports nationally, said the pandemic highlighted that Australia was primarily a “maritime nation” whose resources were critical to the rest of the world. “People often don’t understand the magnitude of what’s going on at our ports across the country. The fact is most of the items around our homes and workplace haven’t come into the country in the belly of a plane,” Mr Gallacher told The Australian.

“Our ports are the lifeblood of our economy. The blue highway is the most critical path to our ­national prosperity. We often take for granted just how critical our ports are across a range of industries and communities.

“This report paints a picture of the impact of our sector and demonstrates in clear terms how important our ports are to our standard of living.”

The report, prepared by Prominence Consulting using data not previously publicly released, says Australian ports facilitate 1-in-20 jobs. The annual value of export and import trade is listed at $395bn and $255bn. The annual volume of export trade is more than 1.5 billion tonnes, driven largely by resources exports, with import trade volumes at 97 million tonnes.

The iron ore powerhouse state of WA contributed 62 per cent of Australia’s international trade by volume, valued at $233bn. Queensland, which dominates Australia’s exports of LNG and coal, boasts 20 per cent of Australia’s seaborne international trade by value and volume. NSW ports facilitated 34 per cent of Australia’s seaborne imports by value.

With Australia and global partners committing to net zero emissions targets and moving towards greener economies, the mix of exports and imports is likely to change over the coming decade and beyond.

Mr Gallacher said the report would become a permanent fixture to help monitor the “changing nature of the economy” and track changes in export and import commodities: “The extensive data collected demonstrates the interconnectedness of Australia’s key industries and supply chains to our economic health and security and allows us to plan for the future.”

Over the past five years, Australian ports have invested more than $3.8bn in capital expenditure, spent $9.6bn on operational expenditure and increased its permanent workforce by 17 per cent.

Mr Gallacher, who last November was involved in the establishment of a Parliamentary Friends of Ports group, has ramped-up engagement with South Pacific nat­ions to increase collaboration with regional port operators.

The engagement comes as China expands its influence in the South Pacific.