Germany's Iron Ore Imports Leap By 4% In February

By Paul Ploumis

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The iron ore imports by Germany increased modestly by just over 4% during the month of February this year, says latest trade statistics released by Eurostat.

The country’s iron ore imports totaled 3.471 million tonnes during February 2017. This is 4.1% higher when matched with the imports during the corresponding month in 2016. The country had imported 3.333 million tonnes of iron ore during February 2016. Meantime, the total value of imports by the country reported sharp 67% jump over the year from $169.201 million in February 2016 to $281.978 million in February this year. The average import price too has surged higher significantly by 60% year-on-year to $81.2 per tonne in Feb ’17. The German iron ore imports had averaged at $50.8 per tonne in February 2016.

The largest exporter of iron ore to Germany during the month was the Netherlands. The imports from the Netherlands totaled 1.585 million tonnes, valued at $125.661 million. The import prices averaged at $79.30 per tonne. Brazil exported 607,533 tonnes of iron ore to Germany during the month. The imports from Brazil were valued at $48.482 million. The average price of import stood at $79.8 per tonne. In third place was Sweden with 548,758 tonnes. The total value of imports from the country amounted to $47.616 million. The imports from the country averaged at $86.8 per tonne during February 2017. The other key exporters of iron ore to Germany were Canada (294,774 tonnes), South Africa (266,593 tonnes) and Russia (80,740 tonnes).

The imports of agglomerated iron ore during February this year totaled 1.058 million tonnes, more or less flat when compared with the same month a year before. The German agglomerated iron ore imports had totaled 1.059 million tonnes during February 2016. The value of imports amounted to $100.754 million during Feb ‘17. The import value has increased sharply by nearly one-third when compared with the previous year. The German agglomerated ore imports were valued at $76.114 million during February 2016. The import prices of agglomerated ore saw similar jump of nearly 33% over the year. The average import price edged higher from $71.8 per tonne in Feb ’16 to $95.2 per tonne in Feb ‘17.

The largest exporter of agglomerated iron ore to Germany was Sweden. The exports from the country totaled 404,750 tonnes. The value of iron ore imports from Sweden totaled $35.521 million. The imports averaged at $87.8 per tonne. The other key exporters during the month were Canada (279,733 tonnes), the Netherlands (194,356 tonnes) and Russia (80,740 tonnes).

The imports of non agglomerated iron ore totaled 2.413 million tonnes, accounting for nearly 70% of the total imports by Germany during February this year. The non-agglomerated iron ore imports by the country jumped higher by 6.2% when matched with 2.273 million tonnes imported during February 2016. The value of non-agglomerated iron ore imports has almost doubled year-on-year to $181.224 million when matched with $93.087 million a year before.

The country imported non-agglomerated iron ore mainly from the Netherlands. The imports from the Netherlands totaled 1.391 million tonnes at an average price of $74.9 per tonne. The value of iron ore imports from the Netherlands totaled $104.228 million. The other primary exporters of non-agglomerated iron ore to Germany during Feb ’17 were Brazil (543,133 tonnes), South Africa (266,593 tonnes) and Sweden (144,008 tonnes).

The cumulative iron ore imports by Germany during the initial two-month period of 2017 totaled 6.031 million tonnes. The imports during the period were down by 8% when matched with the imports of 6.553 million tonnes during the corresponding two-month period in 2016. The agglomerated ore imports totaled 1.816 million tonnes, whereas the non-agglomerated imports totaled 4.215 million tonnes.