In December last year, iron ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland increased by 14.6 percent compared to November and were down by 0.9 percent year on year, totaling 45.76 million mt.
According to the information released by Port Hedland Port Authority, in December iron ore shipments made from Port Hedland to China amounted to 37.37 million mt, rising by 13.2 percent compared to the previous month and declining by 4.3 percent year on year. South Korea and Japan followed China in December, receiving 3.78 million mt and 1.86 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.