South African Iron Ore Exports Up by 9% in May-16

South Africa, a significant player in the bulk material export market, especially in terms of exports of iron ore. Following Australia and Brazil, the country contributes 3rd position among world’s top iron ore exporters.

South Africa exported around 5.1 MnT iron ore in May’16, up by around 9.6% M-o-M. In May’16, the agglomerated iron ore exports were at 3.32 MnT, while non-agglomerated iron ore exports registered at 1.79 MnT. Meanwhile, on the Y-o-Y basis, iron ore exports are down by 18% in the same consecutive month last year.

However, in the first five months on 2016, the country exported 25.5 MnT iron ore, down by 11.4% in the same consecutive months prior this year. Alongside, the country exported 66.85 MnT iron ore in 2015.

China, the world’s largest consumer of iron ore, imports around 5-6% of its total imports from South Africa. In may’16, South Africa exported around 78% total iron ore exports to China.

In the first five months of 2016, the country exported 17.6 MnT iron ore to China. However, in May’16, exports to China remained at 4 MnT, up by 35% as compared to Apr’16.

India iron ore imports from South Africa remains low

Due to ongoing monsoon season in India, iron ore importers are keeping themselves away from importing ore from South Africa. Meanwhile, no new iron ore booking are done by importers in June’16. There are only some held cargoes booked before which are to be delivered in the month of July’16.

South Africa planning for ports expansion to meet demand

South Africa is planning to invest around 48.4 billion Rand ( USD 3.2 billion) for capacity expansion at its major commercial ports over the 7 years to support a projected annual increase in cargo volumes.

According to country’s national port authority, the capacity demand at 9 major ports will reach to 314 MnT, which was 255 MnT per year in 2015.

For South African grade coal, the big markets are India, Europe, and Turkey. India, being the major importer of South African coal, imports more than 25% of coal from South Africa. In FY17, total coal imports from South Africa remained at 8.2 MnT. However, imports remained at 38.21 MnT in FY16.