In March this year, iron ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland rose by 20.5 percent compared to February and were up by 28.4 percent year on year, totaling 46.73 million mt.
According to the information released by Port Hedland Port Authority, in March iron ore shipments made from Port Hedland to China amounted to 40.43 million mt, increasing by 21.6 percent compared to the previous month and rising by 31.8 percent year on year. Japan and South Korea followed China in March, receiving 2.51 million mt and 2.3 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.
China imported less iron ore from Port Hedland in February than in March due to the New Year holiday, with its February total recorded at 33.26 million mt. Besides, the year-on-year increase in iron ore shipments made from Port Hedland to China in March was due to the lower figure recorded in the same month of the previous year stemming from tropical cyclone Veronica, SteelOrbis understands.