Mexican exports of iron ore to China in 2014 fell 77 percent year-on-year to 2.3 million, according to a media report this week.
Citing data from the nation’s economy ministry, the report indicated the results represent the worst performance Mexico ever had for the sale of iron ore overseas, and represents the first drop in the product’s exports in two years.
“It’s a combination of factors. The first is the excess of supply of steel from China, which reduced the consumption at low levels 14 years ago. This, in turn, affected prices, which [decreased] from $135/mt in 2013 to $68/mt in 2014,” Eduardo Salgado, a mining leader at KMPG said in the report.