Brazil Records Slight Decline in August Iron Ore Exports

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The most recent import trade statistics released by the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Commerce (MDIC) of Brazil suggests marginal decline in iron ore exports by the country during August this year.

Brazil’s iron ore exports in August 2017 totaled 34.126 million tonnes. The exports were down slightly by 1.1% when compared with the previous year. The iron ore exports by the country had totaled 34.502 tonnes in August last year. The total exports were valued at $1.335 billion, higher by 6.3% year-over-year. The average export price surged higher by 7.4% from $36.40 per tonne in August 2016 to $39.11 per tonne in August this year.

The top three ore importers of iron ore from Brazil during the month were China, Portugal and Malaysia. These three countries accounted for over 70% of the total exports by Brazil during the month. The top importer, China, received 19.8 million tonnes of iron ore from Brazil, accounting for almost 58% of the total Brazilian exports. The ore exports to China averaged at $37.05 per tonne. In second place was Portugal with imports of 2.2 million tonnes. Malaysia imported 1.96 million tonnes of the steel making raw material. The other key importers during the month were Japan (1.397 million tonnes) and the Netherlands (1.287 million tonnes).

The exports of non-agglomerated ore totaled 31.578 million tonnes, marginally lower by nearly 2% when matched with the same month a year before. The total value of non-agglomerated ore exports totaled $1.143 billion. The export prices averaged at $36.21 per tonne, 3.9% higher when compared with $34.86 per tonne in August last year.

The top destination of Brazilian non-agglomerated ore during the month was China. The Chinese imports from Brazil totaled 19.749 million tonnes, followed by Portugal and Malaysia with imports of 2.237 million tonnes and 1.960 million tonnes respectively. Japan (1.203 million tonnes) and the Netherlands (1.045 million tonnes) were the other key importers.

Agglomerated ore exports by Brazil totaled 2.548 million tonnes, significantly higher by 12.3% upon comparison with the previous year. The net value of exports amounted to $191.4 million. The agglomerated ore exports averaged at $75.12 per tonne in August.

Egypt was the key importer of agglomerated ore from Brazil. The exports to Egypt from Brazil totaled 328,000 tonnes during the month. Libya (316,000 tonnes) and the US (295,000 tonnes) were the other key export destinations.