Australian, Brazilian iron ore shipments drop 13% w-o-w

The total volume of iron ore shipments dispatched to global destinations from the 19 ports and 16 mining companies in Australia and Brazil under Mysteel's regular tracking slid for the second straight week to reach 22.1 million tonnes over March 11-17, losing 3.1 million tonnes or 12.5% on week due to a reduction in ore shipments from Australia.

During the latest survey period, Australian iron ore shipped worldwide from the country's 10 ports ended the prior two weeks' gains and slumped 3.3 million tonnes or 17.3% on week to 15.7 million tonnes.

Among the total, the volume sent to the country's largest iron ore consumer China fell 970,000 tonnes or 6.5% on week to 14 million tonnes after picking up in the previous week.

Among the top three miners in Australia, only Rio Tinto reduced its iron ore shipments to China, cutting the volume by a marked 550,000 tonnes or 12.2% on week to 4 million tonnes.

In contrast, BHP's shipping volume to China went up 138,000 tonnes or 3.1% on week to reach 4.6 million tonnes after falling in the prior week, while that of Fortescue Metals Group increased for the third consecutive week by another 92,000 tonnes or 2.4% on week to 3.9 million tonnes, the survey showed.

On the other hand, Brazilian iron ore dispatched from the country's nine ports to global destinations recovered from the previous week's drop and gained 139,000 tonnes or 2.2% on week to reach 6.4 million tonnes, with the volume sent from Vale rising 481,000 tonnes or 11.9% on week to 4.5 million tonnes.

As for the week over March 18-24, two berths at Australia's Port Geraldton have been scheduled to undergo maintenance works for 48 hours, but it may not affect the country's iron ore shipments this week, according to Mysteel's tracking.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.