Iron Ore Imports by the Netherlands Record 27% Decline

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The iron ore imports by Netherlands declined sharply by 27% during the month of February this year. The imports of lumps and fines registered year-on-year decline of 31.4%, says latest trade statistics released by Eurostat.

The country’s iron ore imports totaled 1.729 million tonnes during February 2017. This is 26.5% lower when matched with the imports during the same month in 2016. The country had imported 2.353 million tonnes of iron ore during February 2016. Meantime, the total value of imports by the country jumped higher significantly by 32.3% over the year from $112.6 million in February 2016 to $149.0 million in February this year. The average import price too has surged higher significantly by 80% year-on-year to $86.2 per tonne in Feb ’17. The iron ore imports by the country had averaged at $47.9 per tonne in February last year.

Brazil was the largest exporter of iron ore to Netherlands during the month. The imports from Brazil totaled 1.026 million tonnes, valued at $89.8 million. The import prices averaged at $87.6 per tonne. The imports from Brazil accounted for nearly 60% of the total monthly imports by Netherlands in Feb ’17. Sweden exported 184,066 tonnes of iron ore to Netherlands during the month. The imports from Sweden were valued at $14.6 million. The average price of import stood at $79.4 per tonne. In third place was Canada with 170,501 tonnes. The total value of imports from the country amounted to $17.6 million. The imports from the country averaged at $103.0 per tonne during February 2017. The other key exporters of iron ore to Netherlands were South Africa (167,696 tonnes) and Norway (65,787 tonnes).

The imports of agglomerated iron ore during February this year totaled 459,460 tonnes, declining by 8.6% when compared with the same month a year before. The agglomerated iron ore imports had totaled 502,606 tonnes during February 2016. The value of imports amounted to $52.2 million during Feb ‘17. The import value has increased sharply by nearly 49% when compared with the previous year. The import prices of agglomerated ore saw jump of nearly 63% over the year. The average import price edged higher from $69.8 per tonne in Feb ’16 to $113.6 per tonne in Feb ‘17.

The largest exporter of agglomerated iron ore to Netherlands was Brazil. The imports from that country totaled 303,862 tonnes. The value of iron ore imports from Brazil totaled $35.6 million. The imports averaged at $117.2 per tonne. The other key exporters during the month were Canada (93,583 tonnes) and Sweden (62,015 tonnes).

The imports of non agglomerated iron ore totaled 1.27 million tonnes, accounting for more than 73% of the total imports by Netherlands during the month. The non-agglomerated iron ore imports by the country plunged heavily by 31.4% when matched with 1.85 million tonnes imported during February 2016. The value of non-agglomerated iron ore imports has increased by nearly 25% year-on-year to $96.8 million when matched with $77.6 million a year before.

The country imported non-agglomerated iron ore mainly from Brazil. The imports from that country totaled 722,154 tonnes at an average price of $75.1 per tonne. The value of iron ore imports from Brazil totaled $54.23 million. The other primary exporters of non-agglomerated iron ore to Netherlands during Feb ’17 were South Africa (167,696 tonnes), Sweden (122,051 tonnes) and Canada (76,918 tonnes).

The cumulative iron ore imports by Netherlands during the initial two-month period of 2017 totaled 4.923 million tonnes. The imports during the period were down by 6.2% when matched with the imports of 5.247 million tonnes during the corresponding two-month period in 2016. The agglomerated ore imports totaled 1.36 million tonnes, whereas the non-agglomerated imports totaled 3.57 million tonnes.