By Soraya Permatasari - May 9, 2012 1:38 PM GMT+0800

Western Australia, the nation’s biggest iron-ore exporter, began purchasing land for a deep- water port in Pilbara capable of shipping 350 million metric tons of the steelmaking material a year to meet global demand.

Anketell will be located 30 kilometers (17 miles) east of the Karratha region and 10 kilometers from Cape Lambert, Colin Barnett, Western Australia’s premier and state development minister, said today in a statement. The port will be built in stages and include an industrial area for mineral processing and other heavy industry, he said.

Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of iron ore, is adding ports as global iron ore purchases are forecast by Australia’s Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics to increase 40 percent to 1.5 billion metric tons by 2017. China will account for half of that quantity, the bureau estimates.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), the world’s biggest mining company is leading the expansion of the state’s biggest harbor at Port Hedland. The project will cost about A$14 billion ($14.1 billion), the state’s Department of Mines and Petroleum estimated last year.

Aquila Resources Ltd. holds a 50 percent stake in the West Pilbara iron ore project that plans to use the Anketell port, the company said today in a statement.