Western Trade Coast: an economic review of the region

The Western Trade Coast is Western Australia’s premier strategic industrial area located within the Perth Metropolitan Area. The precinct was established in the middle of the last century, providing the catalyst for the development of BP’s Kwinana oil refinery and Cockburn Cement’s cement and lime plant in 1955.

Since that time, a number of global leaders in industry processing and manufacturing have set up operations in the Western Trade Coast, building strong industrial synergies with other operations that has become a unique feature of the precinct compared to other industrial precincts around the world. The Western Trade Coast continues to attract global interest, reflecting the provision of essential infrastructure, the availability of industrial land that is within an industrial buffer and supportive environmental regulations, and the region’s proximity to a skilled and available workforce.

A strategic heavy industrial area within the Perth Metropolitan Area

Covering 3,900 hectares between Munster and Rockingham it includes: 

• The Kwinana Industrial Area services
• The Rockingham Industry Zone services
• The Australian Marine Complex services
• The Latitude 32 Industry Zone

Available land

Availability of industrial land and the industry buffers to support heavy industry development

Established infrastructure

Established transport infrastructure providing pathways to market, and energy and water infrastructure providing critical electricity, gas and water supplies to support industry

Skilled local workforce

A skilled, local and available workforce to support industry by virtue of its location within the greater Perth Metropolitan Region.

Regulatory certainty

A stable policy and regulatory environment, allowing for the establishment of a heavy industrial area within the Perth Metropolitan Area.

Industrial synergies

The symbiotic industry relationships provide a source of supply for key inputs, products and by-products for industries operating in the region.

Market proximity

Strategically located within the Perth Metropolitan Area, with established freight infrastructure providing an efficient pathway to market for industries operating in the Western Trade Coast.

The Western Trade Coast has a complex and unique industrial ecosystem which produces a range of industrial products that serve as critical inputs into local and global supply chains. The Western Trade Coast is a multi-billion dollar industrial precinct which supplies Western Australia’s leading industries and exports its products to markets around the world. The industries operating in the Western Trade Coast employ thousands of Western Australians in a range of highly skilled professions, and indirectly supports thousands of jobs across Australia.

The Western Trade Coast has developed a reputation as one of the premier heavy industrial precincts globally, reflecting the provision of essential infrastructure, the availability of buffered industrial land and supportive environmental regulations, and the region’s proximity to a skilled and available workforce.

The presence of these critical success factors in the Western Trade Coast provides a unique source of competitive advantage for industry, with the region increasingly viewed as a location of choice for new major projects.

The current wave of investment opportunities within the Western Trade Coast represents the beginning of a fundamental transformation of the Western Trade Coast, with the most prospective opportunities relating to shipbuilding and sustainment, renewable hydrogen and future facing minerals processing.

Shipbuilding and sustainment

Supporting Australia’s defence industries through manufacturing, maintenance and vessel sustainment.

Renewable hydrogen

Leading the emergence of the hydrogen economy by leveraging local demand and access to global markets.

Future facing minerals processing

Value-adding to minerals to support global development and decarbonisation initiatives.