Australia’s iron ore (including pellets) export shipments inched up to 864.61 million tonnes (mnt) in the calendar year 2022 (CY22) compared to 850.83 mnt in CY21, according to vessel line-up data maintained with SteelMint. Australia decided to increase iron ore exports by 5 mnt in CY22 compared to CY21 but it increased exports by almost 15 mnt because of year-end pressure to meet the guidance.
Exports to China edge up 3.5%
Australia’s iron ore export shipments to the world’s largest importer, China, were recorded at 726.93 mnt in CY22, up 3.5% against 702.46 mnt in the previous calendar year. Because margins were narrowing, Chinese mills bought low-grade iron ore.
Japan and South Korea were the second- and third-largest iron ore importers from Australia in CY22. The latter supplied 55.19 mnt to Japan, down 6.6% y-o-y while 47.31 mnt was shipped to South Korea, down 14.18% y-o-y. Global economic demand remains weak. As a result, buying from Japanese mills dropped.
Shipper-wise performance
Rio Tinto’s iron ore shipments were the highest at 305.26 mnt in CY22, stable against 301.84 mnt in the previous calendar year. Following this were BHP and FMG at 274.22 mnt (down 6% ) and 188.27 mnt (up 5%) respectively.
Exports from Port Hedland up
Port Hedland exported 539.34 mnt of iron ore in CY22, up slightly by 1.8% y-o-y compared to 529.94 mnt in CY21. Exports from Port Walcott were at 172.16 mnt (largely stable) and Port Dampier at 132.49 mnt (up 2.1% ).
Price trend
Australian-origin Fe62% prices stood at $120/t CFR China. Prices went up as high as $160/t during the March-April period while these fell to their lowest level of $80/t in October. As on 9 January 2023, Australian iron ore prices are at $118.7/t CFR China.
Exports up 7% m-o-m in Dec’22
Australia supplied 79.88 mnt of iron ore in December 2022, up 7% m-o-m against 74.71 mnt in November. China was the largest importer with 66.78 mnt followed by Japan and South Korea with 6.08 mnt and 4.74 mnt respectively.
Exports from Port Hedland were the highest at 53.93 while shipments from Port Walcott and Port Dampier were at 17.56 mnt and 12.85 mnt respectively in December.
Outlook
Australia decreased its iron ore price outlook as a result of reduced demand amid global economic concerns and rising domestic exports. The price of iron ore is expected to reach $115/t at the end of CY22, $85/t in CY23, and $75/t in CY24. Global steel demand is still declining because a reduction in demand in Europe and other regions offsets the drop in supplies from the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
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