The State Government has not reached contractual closure with Yilgarn Esperance Solution Ltd (YES) for the Esperance Port upgrade due to declining iron ore prices affecting project viability. Negotiations are ongoing, and the timeline has been extended to allow for alternative commercial uses of port land if the iron ore facility project does not proceed.

AnsweredQoN 2854Legislative Council
Asked
11 March 2015
Portfolio
Transport

QuestionView source ↗

(1) Has the State Government reached contractual closure with Yilgarn Esperance Solution Ltd (YES) regarding an upgrade of the Esperance Port? (2) If yes to (1), on what date was contractual closure reached? (3) On what date does the Government expect financial closure will occur? (4) If no to (1), why not? (5) How long does YES have to reach contractual closure and financial closure before they lose their exclusive rights to the development?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
24 March 2015
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Transport
Response time
13 days
(1) No.
(2) Not applicable
(3) This is currently the subject of continued negotiations with YES Consortium.
(4)-(5) Southern Ports Authority has been monitoring the price of iron ore during negotiations and considered the effect of rapidly declining iron ore prices on the viability of the Project.
A strategy has been put in place, which has extended the time required to finalise Contractual Close, to ensure valuable Port Land remains available for alternative commercial purposes, while ensuring that the Multi User Iron Ore Facility (MUIOF) Project is given every opportunity to proceed.
Negotiations with the Preferred Proponent are therefore continuing.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more