Australia Iron Ore Shipments at 9-Month Low on Cyclone

Australian iron ore shipments to worldwide slipped to its nine-month low of 12.3 MnT as of Jan 12 after having plunged by 2.9 MnT or 19% on week with the tropical cyclone Blake sweeping across Pilbara, Western Australia, on Jan 7, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on Jan 14.

As of Jan 12, the cyclone Blake had brought gales and heavy rainfalls to many iron ore mining operations in Pilbara, imposing affection of various degrees on the three core Australian miners’ production and shipments.

Over Jan 6-12, together with the overall decline, the Australian iron ore shipments towards China reversed down too by 2.3 MnT  or 17.6% on week to 10.9 MnT , or also at its nearly 10-month low.

Among the Australian miners, Rio Tinto delivered 3.95 million tonnes of iron ore to China, down nearly 1.1 MnT  or 21.6% on week, BHP’s iron ore shipping volume to China decreased further by another 542,000 MT or 12.5% on week and the tonnage from Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) to China reversed down by 639,000 MT or 20% on week.

Together with lower Australian iron ore shipments, the tonnage from Brazil slid by another 1.1 MnT  or 23% on week to 3.76 MnT  globally because of the rainy weather in Brazil, among which, that from Vale accounted for 3.6 MnT , or down another 727,000 MT or 16.8% on week and CSN’s shipments decreased to zero over the survey period.

The total tonnage from Australia and Brazil to worldwide destinations, thus, fell another 4 MnT or 20% on week to 16.1 MnT  over Jan 6-12, and lower shipment volumes from Brazil and Australia saw the supplies of all grades and forms down, with the tonnage for fines at and above 62% grade down by another 599,000 MT or 12% on week, that for the 61% grade and below also reversed down by 504,000 MT or 20% on week, and the mainstream lumps fell further by 256,000 MT or 9% on week.

Over the coming weekend, the tropical cyclone Claudia is forecast to bring along significant rain to regions across the Northern Territory and to track well over open waters to the west of the Western Australian coast over the coming days.

On the adverse weather forecast, Rio has commenced the clearance of its Port Walcott and Dampier since Jan 12 and Jan 13 respectively, Mysteel understood from the survey.