Iron ore exports up
According to recent market reports, major iron ore producing countries exported 455 million metric tons of iron ore in the first nine months of 2005, an increase of 12.9 percent from a year earlier. Australia's major producers, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, exported 187 million metric tons of iron ore in the first nine months of the year, up 13 percent year on year. Meanwhile, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) and other Brazilian operators shipped 163 million metric tons of iron ore, an increase of 10 percent. India's iron ore exports rose 24 percent year on year to 62 million metric ton in the first nine months of the year.