INDEC: Argentina's iron ore imports plunged in July

SAO PAULO (Scrap Monster): The trade statistics released by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) of Argentina for the month of July this year indicates sharp decline in iron ore imports by the country. The country’s iron ore imports during the month totaled 343,808 tonnes, 50.48% lower when compared with the imports during the same month a year ago.

The key exporter of iron ore to Argentina during July this year was Brazil. The imports from Brazil totaled 343,808 tonnes, accounting for 100% of the imports by Argentina during the month. Out of this, imports of non-agglomerated iron ore totaled 302,078 tonnes and those of agglomerated iron ore totaled 41,730 tonnes. The imports of non-agglomerated iron ore from Brazil has dropped by 5.00% in comparison with the imports of 317,840 tonnes during July 2014. The agglomerated iron ore imports have dropped sharply by 88.90% when compared with 694,214 tonnes imported during July last year.

The import prices of non-agglomerated iron ore averaged at $68.80 per tonne, falling sharply by 12.9% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the import prices of agglomerated iron ore averaged at $89.90 per tonne, significantly down by nearly 35.2% when compared with the average price of $138.8 per tonne during July 2014. The total value of imports amounted to $24.526 million, almost 68% lower when compared with the import value of $77.33 million during July 2014.

The cumulative iron ore imports by Argentina during the initial seven-month period of the year totaled 2.788 Million tonnes, down by 24.35% when compared with the imports of 3.687 Million tonnes during January to July last year. Brazil accounted for nearly 99% of the iron ore imports by the country during this period.

The average import prices of non-agglomerated iron ore were at $68.0 per tonne during the seven-month period this year, dropping sharply by 26.2% when matched with $92.10 per tonne during the corresponding seven-month period in 2014. The average import prices of agglomerated iron ore dropped sharply by 36.8% year-on-year from $159.10 per tonne to $100.5 per tonne. The total value of imports dropped substantially by 51.62% year-on-year to $239.521 million during Jan-Jul ’15.