Australia's Port Hedland to reopen at 0800 GMT as storm passes

SYDNEY Jan 23 (Reuters) - Australia's Port Hedland, handling about a fifth of the world's seabourne-traded iron ore, will reopen at 0800 GMT after shutting a day earlier due to a severe tropical storm off Western Australia state.

"Conditions have improved in the last few hours with swell, sea and wind reducing to a level that shipping operations can restart," the Port Hedland Port Authority said.

The port, which closed on Tuesday evening, is used by BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Atlas Iron to ship iron ore cargoes which this year are expected to exceed 200 million tonnes.