Western Trade Coast: an economic review of the region

ACIL Allen was engaged by the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation to undertake a rapid current state assessment of the Western Trade Coast, a globally-significant industrial precinct located in Perth, Western Australia. The Western Trade Coast hosts strategic and advanced industries, including future-facing minerals processing, chemical manufacturing, and energy generation, as well as advanced fabrication, manufacturing, defence, and shipbuilding capabilities in the Australian Marine Complex. To support the Western Australian Government’s vision to position the Western Trade Coast as a global advanced industries hub, and an investment and trade destination for new and emerging industries, ACIL Allen developed a contemporary profile of industry and the critical success factors that have supported the long-term growth and development of this nationally significant industrial precinct. 

Our work highlighted the enormous contribution that industries operating in the Western Trade Coast collectively make to the wealth of the State and the nation, on the back of the critical role tenants and their projects play in global supply chains. In 2021-22 alone, industries operating in the Western Trade Coast, directly and indirectly, generated $18.2 billion to Australia’s GDP and employed or supported nearly 62,000 full-time equivalent jobs across Australia. The industrial products that are produced by industries operating in the Western Trade Coast are exported to more than 32 countries across the globe, with an estimated value of more than $16 billion in exports in 2021-22. 

The study also highlights the central role of the region in supporting Western Australia’s major mining, energy, and manufacturing industries more broadly. The study also provides a perspective on the future state of this economically significant industrial precinct, highlighting opportunities for further economic development, diversification, and decarbonisation in relation to shipbuilding and sustainment, renewable hydrogen, and future-facing minerals processing. To guide and coordinate government action, ACIL Allen developed a strategic policy framework to position the region to realise these opportunities and facilitate new major industrial projects into the future. 

You can read The Western Trade Coast: A Global Advanced Industries Hub at the link below. An additional detailed report has been provided to Government to inform their future policy development and planning work for the region. https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publications/western-trade-coast-economic-review-of-the-region