Major countries release latest iron ore import,export statistics

By Paul Ploumis

ALBANY (Scrap Monster): Major countries across the world have released iron ore trade data for the month of November last year.

In accordance with the statistics released by the Peru Ministry of Energy and Minerals, the country’s iron ore production surged higher by nearly 84% over the previous year to 697,000 tons in November 2016. The country had produced only 379,000 tons of iron ore during the same month in 2015. The cumulative production during the initial eleven-month period of the year totaled 7.08 million tons, slightly higher by 3.5% when matched with the production of 6.843 million tons during the corresponding eleven-month period in 2015.

According to Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), Turkey imported 9.671 million tons of iron ore during Jan-Nov ’16, slightly higher by 4.4% when compared with the year before. The key exporter of the steel making raw material to Turkey during the eleven-month period was Brazil. The imports from Brazil totaled 4.79 million tons, accounting for nearly 50% share of the total imports by Turkey during this period. The second largest supplier of iron ore to Turkey was Russia with 1.62 million tons, accounting for 16.8% share of Turkish imports. The other main exporters during the eleven-month period were Sweden (1.5 million tons, 15.5% share) and Ukraine (870,000 tons, 9% share).

Meantime, latest Customs statistics released by Iran indicates 45% surge in iron ore exports by the country during the first three quarters of 2016. The exports totaled 13.08 million tons during this period. As per sources, the export growth trend is likely to continue until March this year, when the government plans to double the export duty from current 5% to 10%. Further, the duty will be raised to 15% in March 2018. The rise in export duty is part of government’s attempts to curb exports of raw materials out of the country.

The data released by Ukraine Finance Bureau indicates that the country’s iron ore exports amounted to $186.2 million during November last year. The primary importer of Ukrainian iron ore was China. The imports by China totaled $54.73 million, accounting for almost 30% of the total imports by Ukraine during the month. The imports totaled $3.69 million during the month. The cumulative iron ore exports by the country during Jan-Nov ’16 amounted to $1.6 billion, whereas the imports were valued at $70.86 million.

As per latest statistics released by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade for the month of December 2016, the country’s iron ore export volumes totaled 35.11 million mt. The exports surged higher by nearly 12% when matched with the previous month. However, the exports were down significantly by 11.2% when compared with the same month a year before. The value of exports amounted to $1.76 billion during the month. The country’s iron ore exports had totaled 31.439 million tons during November last year. The largest importer of iron ore from Brazil during the month was China. The imports by China totaled 18.990 million tons, valued at $707.5 million. The exports of agglomerated iron ore during November ’16 had totaled 2.342 million tons, whereas those of non agglomerated iron ore had totaled 29.098 million tons.