Brazil's iron ore exports retreat in July on weaker Chinese demand

Brazil, the world's second-largest iron ore exporter after Australia, shipped 37.8 million tonnes of the commodity in July, according to preliminary statistics from Comex Stat, a data platform tracking Brazil's foreign trade in goods. The volume represented a 10.1% decline from June -- when exports hit a record high -- and a 7.4% fall on year.

The on-month drop in Brazil's iron ore exports last month was largely the result of a sharp pullback in shipments to China, the top destination. Specifically, China-bound shipments shrank 19.9% from June and 11.7% from a year earlier to 25.6 million tonnes, the Comex Stat data showed. As a result,