Wednesday, November 16,
Declining Chinese steel production has led to a 40 percent fall in shipments to China from a major Australian port between September and October.
Port Hedland Port Authority, which handles shipments for two of Australia’s top-three iron ore miners, said on Tuesday exports to China fell to 6.474 million tonnes in October, overtaken by shipments to Japan, typically its second-ranked destination.
Shipments to Japan nearly tripled to 7.112 million tonnes.
China had replaced Japan over the past decade as Australia’s biggest customer for iron ore, reflecting the rapid growth of China’s massive steel industry.
But in recent months, China has been consolidating its steel sector, closing plants that produce less than 1 million tonnes of crude steel or 300,000 tonnes of semi-finished products a year.
Total ore exports from Australia, the biggest supplier of ore to China, fell slightly to 24.12 million tonnes last week from 24.16 million tonnes the previous week, according to industry consultants.
Source: Reuters
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