In January this year, manganese ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland totaled 15,000 metric tons, decreasing sharply from 143,217 mt recorded in the same month of last year and from 203,449 mt recorded in the previous month, according to Port Hedland Port Authority.
According to the released information, China was the only export destination for manganese ore shipments from Port Hedland in January this year, just as December 2011, with shipments to China decreasing 81 percent year on year.
Port Hedland handles production from mines owned by BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Atlas Manganese in the manganese ore-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia.