In February this year, manganese ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland totaled 249,890 metric tons, increasing 25.7 percent compared to 198,731 mt recorded in the same month of last year and up sharply from 15,000 mt recorded in the previous month, according to Port Hedland Port Authority.
According to the released information, China was the only export destination for manganese ore shipments from Port Hedland in February this year, just as in January this year and December 2011, with shipments to China increasing 86.65 percent year on year.
Port Hedland handles production from mines owned by BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Atlas Manganese in the manganese ore-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia.