US iron ore production in December last year amounted to 3.51 million mt, decreasing by 0.3 percent compared to November and up 8.7 percent year on year, according to figures from the Mineral Industry Survey released by the US Geological Survey (USGS). Meanwhile, US iron ore export shipments in December last year totaled 4.14 million mt, decreasing by 1.4 percent compared to the previous month and up 25.8 percent compared to December 2015.
In 2016, US iron ore production totaled 39.9 million mt, falling by 7.4 percent compared to 2015, while US iron ore export shipments amounted to 41.5 million mt, up two percent year on year.