By  Paul Ploumis 24 Aug 2015  Last updated at 03:34:14 GMT

The US iron ore exports declined sharply in June this year.

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster) : According to most recent data released by the US Department of Commerce (US DOC), the country’s iron ore export volumes declined significantly during the month of June this year.

The US iron ore exports totaled 768,000 tons during the month. This is 45.4% lower when compared with the exports during corresponding month the previous year. The country had exported 1.407 million tons of iron ore during June 2014. The export price averaged at US$77.1 per ton, falling sharply by 27.6% over the previous year.

During June this year, the largest export destination of iron ore exports from the US was Canada. The US iron ore exports to Canada totaled 680,000 tons, accounting for more than 88% of the total US exports. The second largest importer of the US iron ore was Mexico. Mexico imported 88,000 tons of iron ore from the US.

The cumulative iron ore exports by the US totaled 3.67 million tons during the initial six-month period of the year. The half-yearly iron ore exports by the country were down nearly 30% year-on-year. The price of exports during the period from January to June this year averaged at US$$90.3/ton, posting a decline of nearly 18% year-on-year.