In December last year, iron ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland increased by 11.7 percent compared to November and were up 5.15 percent year on year, totaling 46.2 million metric tons.
According to the information released by Port Hedland Port Authority, in December 2017 iron ore shipments made from Port Hedland to China amounted to 39.09 million metric tons, rising by 11 percent compared to the previous month and increasing by 4.5 percent year on year. South Korea and Japan followed China in December, receiving 3.03 million mt and 2.45 million mt respectively.
Port Hedland handles production from mines owned by BHP Billiton, Atlas Iron and Fortescue Metals Group in the iron ore-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia.