Global iron ore trade volumes inched up by around 5% on the year to 1.59 billion tonnes (bnt) in CY’23 from 1.52 bnt recorded in CY’22. The increase was wholly due to the marginal rise in Chinese crude steel production in CY’23 amid the lack of any definite policy of production cap of the Chinese government and high volume of steel exports, BigMint understands. With total iron ore and pellet exports totalling around 855 mnt, Australia accounted for around 54% of total global exports, while Brazil, the second-largest producer, accounted for around 24% of seaborne exports at over 380 mnt – up 10% y-o-y. Notably, exports of iron ore and pellets by India surged 177% y-o-y to 44 mnt from around 16 mnt.
