Iron-ore shipments from Australia’s Port Hedland reach highest level ever
Iron-ore exports from Australia’s Port Hedland climbed to an all-time high in June as miners in the largest shipper increased low-cost output, hurting the outlook for prices as steel production slows in China.
Total shipments jumped b 14% to 38.4-million tons last month from a year earlier, according to the Pilbara Ports Authority. That exceeded the previous record of 38-million tons in May, according to authority data compiled by Bloomberg. Exports to China amounted to 32.6-million tons in June, also a record.
The surge in cargo from Australia and from Brazil, which reported that June’s shipments were the highest this year, may hurt prices, which rallied in the second quarter. Supply growth in Australia will accelerate during this half, according to UBS, which said last week that prices were expected to drop as Rio Tinto Group expanded facilities and a new mine backed by billionaire Gina Rinehart started operations.
“This is just further evidence the majors are continuing to push the tons,” says Paul Gait, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein & Co, in London. “Clearly, that’s bad for prices – there’s no way that could be interpreted positively.”
Exports of iron-ore from Port Hedland totalled 220.8-million tons in the first six months, 13% more than a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations. Shipments to China from the Western Australian port expanded by 16.5% to 186-million tons over the same period.
Ore with 62% iron content delivered to Qingdao, which bottomed at $47.08/t on April 2, dropped 6% to $55.63/t last week, the biggest decline in a year, according to data from Metal Bulletin. The benchmark rose 16% in the three months to June after exports from Australia and Brazil missed expectations.
Shipments from Australia may expand by 10% next year, more than twice the rate forecast for 2015, the Australian government said in a quarterly forecast released last week, citing additional supplies from Rinehart’s Roy Hill, as well as expansions by producers including Rio.
Overseas sales from Brazil, the second- biggest exporter, surged to 32-million tons in June, according to the Trade Ministry, compared with 29.55-million tons a year earlier.
Port Hedland is the world’s largest bulk- export terminal. The facility handles cargoes of iron-ore from BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group, Australia’s largest producers after Rio Tinto.
Prices are expected to drop to average $50/t in the second half, according to UBS, which raised its full-year price forecast to $56/t from $50/t, citing the disruptions to supply seen in the first six months. Citigroup sees prices dropping to less than $40/t in the fourth quarter as supplies increase.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation














