Japan Iron Ore Import Up by 9% in Sept’16

Trade statistics released by Japan Customs shows that the country has imported around 12.33 MnT of iron ore during Sept’16. Japan contributes 10-12% of the seaborne market and stood at world’s 2nd largest iron ore importer after China.

Iron ore imports have witnessed a growth of 9% M-o-M as it was 11.30 MnT in Aug’16. On similar lines, Japan iron ore imports increased by 15% Y-o-Y as it was 10.73 MnT in Sept’15.

In the first nine months of 2016, the country imported 98.65 MnT iron ore, significantly up by 2% as compared to 96.73 MnT during the same period in 2015. The country imported 131 MnT iron ore from different countries in 2015.

The non-agglomerated iron ore (lumps and fines) import in the month of Sept’16 was registered at 10.84 MnT, up by 7.7% M-o-M and 10.2% Y-o-Y. On similar lines, the agglomerated ore (pellets and concentrates) imports were registered at 1.49 MnT in the Sept’16, up by 19.2% M-o-M and 65% Y-o-Y.

1. Australia, the world’s largest iron ore exporter fulfills 60% of Japan iron ore appetite. In Sept’16, Australian iron ore exports to Japan have witnessed a gain of 14.6% M-o-M which was 7.53 MnT in Sept’16 and 6.57 MnT in Aug’16. The nation exported around 6.57 MnT iron ore in Sept’15.
2. Brazil, the second-largest iron ore exporter to Japan has exported 2.83 MnT in Sept’16, down by 24% M-o-M and 8.4% Y-o-Y.
3. South Africa turned out to be the third largest iron ore exporter to Japan by replacing Canada and exported 0.58 MnT iron ore against 0.10 MnT in Aug’16. However, on Y-o-Y basis, iron ore exports from Canada was down by 11.5% as it was 0.52 MnT in Sept’15.