Australia’s Port Hedland Iron Ore Exports Increases by 8% in Feb’16

World’s largest bulk export terminal, Western Australia’s Port Hedland exported around 36.63 MnT iron ore in Feb’16.

The volume of exports from Port Hedland increases by 8.4% M-o-M as compared to Jan’16 as it was 33.78 MnT. However, on Y-o-Y basis, exports rose by 2.71% in Feb’16 as it was 35.6 MnT in the same consecutive month last year.

In Feb’16, Port Hedland shipped around 74.5% share of iron ore to China, around 6% share to Japan and 2.1% share to Taiwan. Exports to China, Japan and Taiwan  from Port Hedland was 29.14 MnT, 2.17 MnT and 0.79 MnT respectively.

Major share of iron ore is been exported to China, world’s largest consumer of iron ore. But, in Feb’16, exports to China had been reduced by 3.6% Y-o-Y. However, on monthly basis, exports to China increased by 10%. Chinese imports from Australia grew with heavy restocking activity by Chinese mills balancing out a week-long trading halt during the country’s Lunar New Year holiday.

Port Hedland has delivered a total throughput of around 446 MnT iron ore in 2015. BHP Biliton and FMG (Fortescue Metals Group) exports iron ore mainly from Australia’s Port Hedland, while Rio Tinto ships through Port Dampier. Port Dampier reports its shipping statistics on a quarterly basis.