According to the statistics provided by Brazil's National Union of the Industry of Extraction of Iron and Base Metals (Sinferbase), in February this year Brazil's iron ore exports amounted to 16.6 million metric tons, falling by 24.14 percent year on year and up 34.2 percent compared to January this year.
The share of the world's largest iron ore exporter Vale in Brazil's total iron ore exports in February equalled 89.75 percent, amounting to 14.9 million metric tons, down 25 percent year on year.
In the first two months of 2012, Brazilian iron ore exports fell by 30.33 percent year on year, decreasing to 28.98 million metric tons. Vale's share in Brazil's total iron ore exports in the January-February period of this year reached 94 percent, amounting to 27.2 million metric tons, down 28.4 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2011.
Meanwhile, Brazilian iron ore pellet exports in February this year amounted to 3.9 million metric tons, falling by 23.8 percent year on year, while in the first two months of the year its iron ore pellet exports rose to 7.17 million mt, up 1.5 percent compared to the same period last year.