According to the statistics provided by Brazil's National Union of the Industry of Extraction of Iron and Base Metals (Sinferbase), in July this year Brazil's iron ore exports amounted to 25.4 million metric tons, rising by five percent year on year and up 7.45 percent compared to the previous month.
In the first seven months of 2012, Brazilian iron ore exports increased slightly by 0.7 year on year with a total of 161.2 million metric tons. Major domestic miner Vale's share in Brazil's total iron ore exports in the first seven months of this year reached 89.7 percent, amounting to 144.6 million metric tons, down slightly by 0.2 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2011.
Brazilian miner Vale's exports of iron ore rose by 2.8 percent year on year in July. The company's iron ore exports in July amounted to 22.7 million tons, 634,000 mt higher compared to July 2011. For other miners, Mineracao e Metalicos SA (MMX) exported 323,000 mt of iron ore in July, surging by 171.4 percent from 119,000 mt in the same month of last year. Anglo American also reported a 22.8 percent rise in exports, increasing its exports to 453,000 mt in July.
Meanwhile, Brazil's total iron ore and pellet sales to its domestic market amounted to 2.5 milion mt in July this year, decreasing 5.1 percent compared to July 2011. Vale's iron ore shipments for the domestic market dropped by 12.5 percent year on year to 1.2 million mt.