Australia: Iron ore export shipments rise by 3% m-o-m in Aug'23

Australia's iron ore and pellet export shipments rose 3% m-o-m to 71.7 million tonnes (mnt) in August 2023 compared to 69.6 mnt in Jul, as per vessel line-up data maintained with SteelMint.

The blast furnace (BF) capacity utilization rate among 247 Chinese steelmakers under Mysteel's survey had continued edging up for the third straight week by another 0.76 percentage point on week to reach 91.79% over August 11-17, with many mills in North China lifting their steelmaking production.

Under such scenario, the daily average consumption of imported iron ore had also climbed for the third consecutive week which may have supported exports from Australia.

Exports to China rise 3%

Australia's iron ore exports to the world's largest importer, China, were recorded at 59.1 mnt in August, up 3% m-o-m against 57.6 mnt in July. Australian iron ore shipments to China increased as Chinese mills were procuring more low-grade material in Aug as margin was down for mills.

South Korea and Japan were the second-largest iron ore importers from Australia in August. The latter supplied 4.5 mnt to South Korea, up by 5% m-o-m, while 4.5 mnt was shipped to Japan.

Shipper-wise performance

Rio Tinto's iron ore shipments were the highest at 26.32 mnt in August, marginally down by 2% m-o-m against 25.91 mnt in July. BHP and FMG shipped 22.76 mnt and 15.56 mnt, respectively.

Port-wise exports

Port Hedland exported 43.71 mnt of iron ore in August, up 4% m-o-m compared to 41.92 mnt in July followed by Port Walcott at 15.81 mnt, up 7% m-o-m, and Port Dampier at 10.51 mnt, marginally down by 6% m-o-m.

Price trends

Monthly average Australian Fe62% iron ore prices decreased by $3/t CFR m-o-m to $109/t CFR China.

Outlook:

Iron ore exports may remain sluggish in the July-September, 2023 (3rd quarter of CY'23) due to the monsoon season in China, low steel demand and some macroeconomic factors.