Brazil's Iron Ore Exports Leaped 9% in November

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest import trade statistics published by the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) under the Ministry of Development, Industry and Commerce (MDIC) of Brazil indicates further jump in iron ore export volumes by the country during November 2017 over the previous year.

Brazil’s iron ore export volumes totaled 34.152 million tonnes during the month of November this year. The monthly export volumes surged by 8.6% when compared with the corresponding month a year before. Brazil’s iron ore exports had totaled 31.440 million tonnes in November last year. The country’s total ore exports were valued at $1.52 billion, considerably higher by 23.4% over the previous year. The average export price surged higher by 13.6% from $39.25 per tonne in November last year to $44.57 per tonne in November 2017.

The top three importers of Brazilian iron ore during the month were China, Japan and the Netherlands. The combined imports by these three countries accounted for nearly 69% of the total ore exports by Brazil during the month. The top importer, China received 19.602 million tonnes of iron ore from Brazil, accounting for over 57% of the total Brazilian exports. The ore exports to China averaged at $40.84 per tonne. In second place was Japan with imports of 2.096 million tonnes. The Netherlands imported 1.731 million tonnes of the steel making raw material. The other key importers during the month were Portugal (1.600 million tonnes), Malaysia (1.465 million tonnes) and South Korea (1.351 million tonnes).

The exports of non-agglomerated ore totaled 31.611 million tonnes in November this year. The exports increased modestly by nearly 9% when matched with the year ago month. The value of non-agglomerated ore exports totaled $1.282 billion. The export prices averaged at $40.57 per tonne, significantly higher by 10% when compared with $36.88 per tonne in November last year.

The top importer of non-agglomerated ore from Brazil during the month was China. The Chinese imports from Brazil totaled 19.452 million tonnes, followed by Japan and Portugal with imports of 1.907 million tonnes and 1.600 million tonnes respectively. Malaysia (1.465 million tonnes), the Netherlands (1.434 million tonnes), South Korea (1.178 million tonnes) and Oman (747,000 tonnes) were the other key export destinations.

Agglomerated ore exports by Brazil totaled 2.541 million tonnes, higher by 8.5% upon comparison with the previous year. The net value of exports amounted to $239.73 million. The agglomerated ore exports averaged at $94.34 per tonne in November.

Egypt was the primary importer of agglomerated ore from Brazil. Brazil’s exports to that country totaled 541,000 tonnes. Argentina (312,000 tonnes) and Netherlands (297,000 tonnes) were the other key export destinations.