Iron ore shipments to China via Port Hedland jump 30% MoM in March

The volume of iron ore shipped to China from Port Hedland, the top iron ore terminal in Western Australia, totalled 41.2 million tonnes in March, jumping by a notable 30.3% on month after February's decline. But the volume was still 3.9% lower than that in the same month last year, new data released by the Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) show.

Similarly, the total iron ore tonnage dispatched worldwide via Port Hedland last month also rebounded to 50.7 million tonnes, the highest since July last year. It logged a surge of 36.7% from February and a rise of 1.2% on year, the PPA data showed.

Hedland's iron ore exports

The significant rise in the port's throughput of iron ore over the past month mainly reflected the smooth recovery of port operations after the impacts of the adverse weather in Western Australia subsided, Mysteel Global notes.

For this reason, China's total imports of iron ore from Australia recorded a stronger performance in March, surging by 47.6% on month to 171 million tonnes, according to the latest data from China's General Administration of Customs.

Last month, Port Hedland's iron ore shipments to South Korea, the second-largest destination for the port's ore exports, also rose by a sharp 33.6% on month to reach 3.9 million tonnes, and the volume marked an on-year increase of 14.8%, the PPA data showed.

The same month, the port handled 1.3 million tonnes of iron for shipments to Japan, the third-largest destination for ex-Hedland iron ore. However, the tonnage was lower by 6.6% on month and by 25.8% on year, the PPA data indicated.

The proportion of China-bound iron ore volume in the total was 81.3% in March, falling by 4 percentage points from that in February, Mysteel Global calculated.

Written by Irene Zhuang, zhuangailing@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com