Greater proportion of Australian iron ore shipped to China

SHANGHAI, May 7 (SMM) – A total of 86 vessels carrying 12.84 million mt of iron ore arrived at major Chinese ports during April 26-May 2, SMM estimates. This was up 1.63 million mt from the prior week, but down 990,000 mt from the same period last year.

For the same week, iron ore deliveries leaving Australian ports declined 1.15 million mt on the week to 17.68 million mt, some 1.13 million mt higher than the same period last year. The shipment volumes of Australian iron ore destined for China edged up from a week ago, as their proportion among overall deliveries rose to 88%.

Shipments that departed Brazilian ports were estimated to expand 870,000 mt from the prior week to 6.09 million mt, roughly flat from the level of the same period last year.