According to the statistics provided by Brazil's National Union of the Industry of Extraction of Iron and Base Metals (Sinferbase), in May this year Brazil's iron ore exports amounted to 23.3 million metric tons, falling by 27.2 percent year on year and up 21.35 percent compared to April.
In the first five months of 2013, Brazilian iron ore exports fell by 7.5 percent year on year to 103.9 million metric tons. Vale's share in Brazil's total iron ore exports in the January-May period of this year was 89 percent, amounting to 92.6 million metric tons, down eight percent compared to the corresponding period of 2012. As for other miners, Samarco exported 8.6 million mt of iron ore in the first five months, rising by one percent year on year, while MMX and Anglo American reported respectively 1.6 million mt and 1.1 million mt of iron ore exports in the period in question.
Meanwhile, in the first five months this year Brazilian iron ore pellet exports amounted to 18.6 million metric tons, falling 10.6 percent year on year, while its iron ore sales to the domestic market fell to 10.4 million mt, down 17 percent compared to the same period last year.