EUROSTAT: German Iron Ore Imports Surged 8%

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The trade statistics published by Eurostat for the month of July this year indicates significant surge in iron ore imports by Germany. The country’s imports surged higher by 7.6% over the previous year. The imports during the month totaled 3.628 million tonnes, as compared with 3.371 million tonnes in July 2016.

The Netherlands was the largest exporter of iron ore to Germany during the month. The imports from the Netherlands totaled 1.823 million tonnes and were valued at $124.9 million. The import prices averaged at $68.50 per tonne. The other primary exporters were Brazil (655,926 tonnes), Sweden (457,838 tonnes) and Canada (161,379 tonnes).

The imports of agglomerated iron ore surged higher significantly by over 14% to total 1.215 million tonnes during July this year. The German agglomerated iron ore imports had totaled only 1.065 million tonnes during July 2016. The value of agglomerated ore imports witnessed notable jump of nearly 65% when compared with July last year. The value of imports totaled $132.27 million. The average import price edged higher from $75.2 per tonne in July 2016 to $108.8 per tonne in July this year. The cumulative imports during the first seven months of 2017 have declined by almost 10% to total 8.023 million tonnes.

The Netherlands was the top supplier of agglomerated ore to Germany during the month. The imports from that country totaled 381,448 tonnes, valued at $37.354 million. The import prices averaged at $97.9 per tonne. The other key suppliers were Sweden (271,106 tonnes), Russia (127,451 tonnes) and Canada (123,970 tonnes).

Germany’s imports of non agglomerated iron ore totaled 2.413 million tonnes, accounting for nearly 67% of the total imports by Germany during July this year. The non-agglomerated iron ore imports by the country were up modestly by 4.6% when matched with 2.306 million tonnes imported during July 2016. The imports during the first seven months of the current year totaled 15.700 million tonnes, marginally higher by 3.2% when matched with the previous year.

The primary exporter of non-agglomerated iron ore in July ’17 was the Netherlands. The imports from the Netherlands totaled 1.442 million tonnes at an average price of $60.7 per tonne. The value of iron ore imports from the Netherlands totaled $87.560 million. The other main exporters of non-agglomerated iron ore to Germany during the month were Brazil (480,226 tonnes), Sweden (186,732 tonnes) and South Africa (144,384 tons).

The cumulative iron ore imports by Germany during the initial seven-month period of the current year were down marginally by 1.8% to 23.723 million tonnes. The top three ore exporters to Germany were the Netherlands (11.633 million tonnes), Brazil (3.653 million tonnes) and Sweden (3.009 million tonnes) during Jan-July ’17.