By Anil Mathews

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The trade statistics released by the Taiwan’s Directorate General of Customs for the month of August 2016 indicates significant increase in iron ore imports by the country. However, the imports during the initial eight-month period of the year declined by over 5% year-on-year.

Lump/Fines

The largest exporter of iron ore lump/fines to Taiwan during August this year was Australia. The imports from Australia totaled 1.555 Million tonnes, accounting for over 78% of the total imports of lump/fines by Taiwan during the month. The import price averaged at $56.0 per ton and the value of imports totaled $88.561 million. The other key import source was Brazil (351,754 tonnes). The value of imports from Brazil totaled $17.960 million at an average price of $50.1 per ton. The imports from Canada totaled 79,095 tonnes.

Pellets

Brazil was the only pellet exporter to Taiwan during Aug ’16. The pellet imports from Brazil totaled 179,826 tonnes. The pellet imports by Taiwan dropped heavily by 48% during the month, when matched with the imports of 348,131 tonnes during the same month a year before.

Combined

Taiwan’s iron ore imports during the month totaled 2.166 Million tonnes, significantly higher by 25% when compared with the imports during the same month a year before. Taiwan had imported 1.732 Million tonnes of iron ore during August 2015. The import prices averaged at $57.6 per tonne, nearly 5% lower year-on-year. The iron ore import prices during August last year had averaged at $60.6 per tonne. The country’s Aug ’16 iron ore imports were valued at $126.858 million, increasing sharply by 19% when compared with the previous year.

The largest exporter of iron ore to Taiwan during August this year was Australia. The imports from Australia totaled 1.555 Million tonnes, accounting for nearly 72% of the total imports by Taiwan during the month. The price of iron ore import from the country averaged at $56.0 per tonne. The second largest source of iron ore import by the country was Brazil with 531,580 tonnes. The iron ore import prices from Brazil averaged at $60.9 per tonne during the month. The third largest exporter of iron ore to Taiwan was Canada with 79,095 tonnes.

Cumulative imports

The cumulative iron ore imports by Taiwan during the initial eight-month period of the year totaled 15.929 Million tonnes. The imports during the period were down marginally by 5.4% when matched with the imports of 16.834 Million tonnes during the corresponding eight-month period last year. The price of imports dropped sharply by 21.5% from $68.4 per ton to $53.7 per ton. 

The largest exporter of iron ore lump/fines to Taiwan during Jan-Aug ’16 was Australia. The imports from Australia totaled 11.754 Million tonnes, accounting for nearly 83% of the total imports of lump/fines by Taiwan during the period. The Taiwanese lump/fines import has registered marginal decline of 0.4% over the previous year. Brazil was the largest pellet exporter to Taiwan during Jan-Aug ’16. The pellet imports from Brazil totaled 1.362 Million tonnes. The cumulative pellet imports by the country have dropped by almost a third when compared with the corresponding eight-month period last year.

The largest exporter of iron ore to Taiwan during the initial eight-month period of the current year was Australia. The imports from Australia totaled 11.754 Million tonnes, accounting for almost 74% of the total imports by Taiwan during the period. The price of iron ore import from the country averaged at $53.7 per tonne. The second largest source of iron ore import by the country was Brazil with 3.431 Million tonnes. The iron ore import prices from Brazil averaged at $51.2 per tonne during the eight-month period. The other key exporters during Jan-Aug ’16 were Canada (649,336 tonnes) and China (92,570 tonnes).