INDEC: Argentina's iron ore imports rose 23% in September

SAO PAULO (Scrap Monster): The trade statistics released by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) of Argentina for the month of September this year indicates significant jump in iron ore imports by the country. The country’s iron ore imports during the month totaled 269,979 tonnes, higher by 23.3% when compared with the imports during the same month a year ago.

The key exporter of iron ore to Argentina during September this year was Brazil. The imports from Brazil totaled 467,622 tonnes, accounting for 100% of the imports by Argentina during the month. Out of this, imports of non-agglomerated iron ore totaled 197,643 tonnes and those of agglomerated iron ore totaled 269,979 tonnes. The imports of non-agglomerated iron ore from Brazil has dropped by 33.7% in comparison with the imports of 298,323 tonnes during September 2014. The agglomerated iron ore imports have jumped higher considerably by 23.3% when compared with 218,992 tonnes imported during September last year.

The import prices of non-agglomerated iron ore averaged at $67.20 per tonne, falling sharply by 11.4% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the import prices of agglomerated iron ore averaged at $86.7 per tonne, significantly down by nearly 31.2% when compared with the average price of $126.1 per tonne during September 2014. The total value of imports amounted to $36.693 million, almost 27% lower when compared with the import value of $50.244 million during September 2014.

The cumulative iron ore imports by Argentina during the initial nine-month period of the year totaled 3.805 Million tonnes, down by 20.29% when compared with the imports of 4.774 Million tonnes during January to Sepyember 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 $68.5 per tonne during the nine-month period this year, dropping sharply by 21.2% when matched with $86.90 per tonne during the corresponding nine-month period in 2014. The average import prices of agglomerated iron ore dropped sharply by 36.1% year-on-year from $152.8 per tonne to $97.6 per tonne.