Port Hedland iron ore shipments rise in November

By Carolina Curiel (ScrapMonster Author)

December 08, 2015 07:51:00 AM

CANBERRA (Scrap Monster): The latest statistics released by the Pilbara Ports Authority suggests rise in monthly iron ore shipments from Port Hedland to China, despite sharp decline in prices. The total port shipments too recorded marginal increase when compared with the month before.

The iron ore shipments from Port Hedland totaled 37.33 million tonnes in November, marginally higher by 2.2% when matched with the shipments of 36.52 million tonnes in October this year. However, the shipments declined sharply from the record highs of 39.4 million tonnes shipped through the port in September. The shipments to China totaled 31.73, accounting for almost 85% of the total shipments out of the port. According to port data, iron ore shipments to China rose by 3% from 30.73 million tonnes in October.

The second largest importer of iron ore shipments from Port Hedland was South Korea. The shipments to South Korea totaled 2.87 million tonnes during the month, followed by Japan with 1.53 million tonnes.

The rise in shipments is despite the sharp fall in prices of the commodity. Iron ore prices have declined to fresh lows, falling below the crucial $40 per tonne. The price of the raw material has lost 45% since the start of the year. When compared with the 2011 peak, the prices are down by almost 80%.

Meantime, top miners including BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have stated that they expect the iron ore prices to remain subdued. The companies cite several reasons for the anticipated decline in prices. Firstly, waning steel production growth in China-the world’s largest iron ore consumer, is feared to impact demand growth of the commodity. Secondly, the global oversupply situation is feared to worsen as major miners have already declared their plans to maintain the mine outputs at peak levels.