Australian, Brazilian iron ore shipments rebound 8% 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 survey recovered from the prior week's slump and rose 1.9 million tonnes or 8% on week to reach 25.6 million tonnes over October 9-15. The increment was mainly contributed by the miners in Brazil, the survey showed.

During the latest survey period, Brazilian iron ore sent worldwide from the country's nine ports jumped by 1.9 million tonnes or 37% on week to reach 7.1 million tonnes after plunging in the previous week, with the volume from Vale increasing by a large 1.6 million tonnes or 38.1% on week to 5.7 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, iron ore shipments from Australia's 10 ports had dipped for the second straight week to hit 18.5 million tonnes over the same period, albeit down by a tiny 36,000 tonnes of 0.2% on week. But the volume sent to the country's largest iron ore consumer China reversed from the previous week's drop and edged up 603,000 tonnes or 4% on week to 15.5 million tonnes.

Among Australia's top three miners, both BHP and Fortescue Metals Group lifted their iron ore shipments to China last week, Mysteel's survey showed. Specifically, BHP's volume jumped 881,000 tonnes or 21.3% on week to 5 million tonnes after the prior week's fall, while FMG's tonnage had climbed for the third consecutive week by another 483,000 tonnes or 12.9% on week to reach 4.2 million tonnes.

In contrast, the shipping volume from Rio Tinto to China had decreased for the second straight week by a marked 963,000 tonnes or 19.7% on week to 3.9 million tonnes.

As for this week over October 16-22, Australia's total iron ore shipments are likely to increase as all its domestic ports have completed maintenance works and have resumed normal operations, according to Mysteel's tracking.

Australian iron ore shipments to China over October 9-15

Written by Anthea Shi, shihui@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com

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