History

1951-52

Early Proposals and Legislation

The resulting agreement, formalised with the signing of the Oil Refinery Act 1952, paved the way for Kwinana’s development in its own right, putting the town on the map as an industrial hub with an exciting future. Although still in its embryonic stages, many held high hopes for what would become known as the future KIA.

October 1, 1952 marked the start of construction of the BP refinery, with sub-contracts let for fencing, scrub clearing and road building.

In 1951, WA’s largest lime and cement producer, Cockburn Cement (CCL), was attracted to the KIA because of its close proximity to high-quality limestone, and easily accessible port, road and rail facilities. It commenced construction of its Munster plant in 1953, with manufacturing of cement and lime under way by 1955. Its initial cement manufacturing capacity was 90,000 tonnes a year. Since then, a total of six cement and quicklime kilns (only four are now operational) have been built and commissioned at the site, and the plant now includes several quarries.

1953-1955

Initial Developments

Within six months, the temporary buildings and facilities had been installed to enable further construction and by mid-1953, 1000 men were employed in various aspects of site construction. Work on permanent buildings began towards the end of 1953 and the workforce peaked at more than 3000, including specialist tradesmen recruited from abroad. The nearby oil refinery and the Government’s existing commitment to dredge the channels in the Sound made Kwinana the ideal choice and by 1954 construction of the rolling mill was under way.

The Government created a state housing area for families of construction employees and future permanent employees in Medina, Kwinana’s first suburb. Medina, named after the sailing ship Medina, was located about four kilometres from the refinery.

Suburbs neighbouring Medina were also named after the early sailing ships, such as “Parmelia” and “Calista”, which brought settlers to the State.  Margaret Feilman was appointed consultant planner to design the Medina and Calista suburbs.

Streets were also named after some of the passengers and crew of those early ships – Pace Road in Medina was named after Captain Pace, Master of the Medina. Town of Kwinana records show that by 1954 more than 1000 people were resident in 250 homes.

Before upgrading and widening of existing roads near the refinery area, such as Rockingham Road, employees travelled from surrounding areas until Thomas Road connected with Medina and the first houses were completed.  As more roads were created, refinery access became easier.

The refinery was officially opened on October 25, 1955 by then Governor General of Australia, Field Marshal Sir William Slim. When operations began in 1955 WA had, for the first time, its own reliable supply of liquid transport fuels.

1960’s

Industrial Growth

Over the next 50 years, the KIA became the State’s primary area of industrial development, with major drivers being its proximity to the sheltered waters of Cockburn Sound, a ready supply of labour from Perth and Fremantle, and a willingness by the State Government to establish a dedicated industrial area. Wharves and groynes were built, and Cockburn Sound became the “outer harbour” for the Fremantle Port Authority.

Following the successful establishment of BP’s oil refinery, Alcoa decided to locate a new alumina refinery in the KIA. The construction site of the refinery was reportedly a “major tourist attraction, attracting hundreds of sightseers each weekend”. In July 1963, the alumina refinery opened, and production started within three months, using bauxite from the company’s Jarrahdale mine (now closed). The first shipment of alumina left the Kwinana Port four months later; the first export shipment was despatched a month later.  Since operations began, the original one-unit, 200,000 tonne plant has been upgraded and expanded to a five-unit, two million tonne plant, employing about 1000 people, excluding contractors.

The decision to build the Western Mining refinery (now BHP Billiton Nickel West) was taken in 1967.
As part of a Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd and State Government agreement (as early as 1952) for iron ore deposit leases in the State, BHP was required to build a fence post plant and a rolling mill capable of producing at least 50,000 tonnes of steel per year by 1957. The project required a long jetty to handle large ocean-going vessels.

The Government made good on its commitment to supply a rail connection to the KIA by extending the existing railway, upgrading the original wooden railway line. Following the initial agreement with BHP to develop an iron and steel industry in Kwinana, the Government sought the aid of the Federal Government to connect Kwinana to Koolyanobbing (about 400 kilometres east north-east), where in 1960 BHP had negotiated the lease of iron ore deposits. By April 1967, a standard gauge railway connected the KIA and Koolyanobbing, and iron ore deliveries commenced. Later, again with Federal Government help, the standard gauge railway was extended to Kalgoorlie, providing benefits nationwide. Australia now had an unbroken standard gauge railway connecting the East and West coasts. Kwinana was no longer an isolated community.

BHP formed a subsidiary company, Australian Iron and Steel Pty Ltd, to administer the Kwinana plant.  As part of the company’s 1960 agreement, a blast furnace was built and first blown in May 1968 using ore from Koolyanobbing, and Australian Iron and Steel began its export of pig iron from one of its two jetties. In a major blow for the company and the community, the blast furnace closed in 1982, followed by the steel rolling mill in 1995.

Construction of the Kwinana Nickel Refinery, designed to treat nickel concentrate from Kambalda, WA, also started in 1968, following an agreement between Western Mining Company (WMC) and the State Government. The KIA was chosen for the refinery because ammonia, fuel oil and petroleum sources were all required, and these were all readily available in this area.

With the harbour proving a big drawcard, chemical and fertiliser company CSBP (formerly CSML) decided to move to the Kwinana industrial strip. Development started in 1965 and operations commenced in 1968, representing a defining moment in the company’s history. The well-established company expanded its superphosphate product range in Kwinana to include phosphoric acid, ammonia, nitric acid and ammonium nitrate and prill processing. The same year, the Kwinana Nitrogen Company was formed by CSBP & Farmers Ltd 
and BP.

1971-1980

Power and Additional Facilities

In 1971 a granulating plant was commissioned; by 1974, the CSBP soil laboratory had been moved to Kwinana and expanded. The next four decades saw a number of plants commissioned and decommissioned, as well as duplication and replacement of other plants, all contributing to the changing landscape of Kwinana. CSBP continues to strengthen its support of WA agriculture, industrial and mining sectors through local production and import of fertilisers and chemicals, coupled with ongoing research.

In 1972, the company established a shells and pumping station at Woodman Point for the purpose of pumping shells and slurry, through a 5.5 kilometre slurry pipeline to the Munster Plant. The shells and dredging program has provided an added economic advantage for the State in that it has helped construct the two shipping channels into Cockburn Sound for the Fremantle Port Authority.

Quicklime supply to the alumina industry began in 1973, following the ratification in State Parliament of the State Agreement. The agreement required the company to undertake a major long term shells and dredging program in specific areas of Owen Anchorage.

The housing industry, public infrastructure, oil and gas industry infrastructure and the WA mineral processing industry are among those sectors relying on the company’s products. Cockburn Cement also has a cement and lime production and packaging plant in Kwinana.

CBH Group, WA’s leading grain storage, handling and marketing organisation – and Australia’s largest co-operative – opened a bulk handling system in Kwinana in 1976. The first shipment left the Kwinana Grain Terminal the following year aboard the ‘Mexican Gulf’. The terminal is one of the largest in the southern hemisphere and is a vital link in the supply chain for the WA grain industry, exporting more than half of the State’s grain every year. It has a storage capacity of more than 1 million tonnes of grain, which is out turned on average five times each year. Grain is transported by rail and road to the Kwinana terminal. The terminal can receive grain at 4000 tonnes per hour from rail and ships can load at 5000 tonnes per hour.

The SEC installed two new units at KPS which could use coal as well as oil and natural gas, making it unique in the State. Unit numbers five and six were commissioned in 1978 and 1979. By 1984, the power station’s Stages B and C were converted to natural gas. In the mid-1980s, it became one of the few power stations in the world that could use oil, coal or natural gas and change over to a different fuel at the mere press of a button – an engineering feat that attracted industry visitors worldwide. Gas firing was introduced, and oil firing reintroduced in 2005.

Coogee Chemicals began operations in 1971 as a small ‘backyard’ company with the intent of producing copper sulphate for agricultural purposes. Over the years, the Kwinana site developed into a diversified manufacturer of inorganic chemicals and a major tank terminal operator. The Kwinana Tank Terminal is the largest multi-purpose Bulk Liquid Dangerous Goods Terminal in WA.

1981-2000

Modern Developments and Expansion

Tiwest Joint Venture Pigment Plant (now Tronox) was first commissioned in 1991, the same year as KIC. Tiwest was the world’s first fully integrated titanium minerals production and pigment manufacturing business. The Kwinana plant is one of six operating sites across WA – all geared to generate its primary product, titanium dioxide pigment. The Kwinana plant has a nameplate capacity of 65,000 tonnes of pigment.

In 1999, Tiwest installed a cogeneration plant, which produces steam from the waste heat of electricity generation; a year later saw completion of a synthetic rutile recovery plant in 2000, which recycles some of the waste product to reduce the amount of raw materials required.

2000-2010

Recent Developments

In March 2008, a $100 million expansion project began, including strategic upgrades such as the addition of a fifth chlorinator and the introduction of aluminium chloride generation in the new production line, as well as adding Swirl Fluidiser Dryer technology to the finishing process and upgrading packaging equipment. Completed in 2010, the expansion increased the plant’s production capacity from 110,000 tonne to 153,000 tonne per annum, representing a significant increase of just over 35 per cent.

No less important, but initially more a ‘behind the scenes’ utility, the Water Corporation and its predecessors have provided drinking water, wastewater and drainage services since the KIA came into being. In the 1990s, Kwinana industries and Government stakeholders took part in a Waterlink study that culminated in the development of the Kwinana Water Recycling Plant (KWRP), a fit-for-purpose non-drinking water supply of industrial process water. Commissioned in 2004, the KWRP now produces 16ML/d high-quality industrial water to industries including BP, Tiwest and CSBP.

The Perth Seawater Desalination Plant in the KIA began supplying water to the Integrated Water Supply Scheme (IWSS) in November 2006. In doing so, it became the first plant in Australia to provide desalinated water for large-scale public consumption.

The Henderson Marine Precinct, now known as the Australian Marine Complex (AMC), was developed at the northern end of Cockburn Sound in the 1990s, taking advantage of the clustering of industries in the nearby KIA. The world-class complex now provides manufacturing, fabrication, assembly, maintenance and technology services for the marine, defence, oil and gas and resource industry. It is the largest marine industry in Australia.

Outside the KIA, the impact was gradual, but ultimately enormous.  Initially there was enough housing in Medina to accommodate BP and BHP workers. However, Alcoa’s establishment in the KIA heralded a big change that was largely unforeseen. Rockingham became a desirable place to live and the need for more housing skyrocketed. Real estate flourished, land developers moved in – Rockingham rapidly evolved from a “large village community ” to a bustling town.
In Kwinana, housing development – including public housing –accompanied the industrial growth, with the town’s size tripling in just over 20 years. Growth in this area stabilised from the late 1970s to mid-1980s, resuming again in the late 1980s.

In 2010, Coogee completed a major project increasing the capacity of the Kwinana Chlor-Alkali plant to more than 30,000 tonnes per annum of chlorine, purchased the Gull terminal site adjacent to its existing terminal increasing our tank capacity by 58 million litres, and completed the purchase and development of a dangerous goods storage facility at Kwinana.

Ongoing Growth

Future Developments

The vision of the State Government and early industrial players was dramatically becoming a reality – perhaps the reality was far greater than initial dreams. A combination of investment capital, visionary thinking, perseverance, and elbow grease had led to KIA’s deep water port, its easy road and rail access to Perth, Fremantle and the eastern states of Australia, and to the strategic placement for export markets. It set up the precinct as an ideal location for heavy and secondary industries. The future looked bright.