In March this year, iron ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland increased by 28.9 percent compared to February and were up 38.2 percent year on year, recording the highest volume ever, totaling 34.43 million metric tons.
According to the information released by Port Hedland Port Authority, in March iron ore shipments made from Port Hedland to China amounted to 27.04 million metric tons, increasing by 26.7 percent compared to February and up 41.6 percent compared to the same month of 2013. South Korea and Japan followed China in March this year, receiving 4.09 million mt and 2.04 million mt respectively.
Port Hedland handles production from mines owned by BHP Billiton, Atlas Iron and Fortescue Metals Group in the iron ore-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia.