Mexico's Iron Ore Imports Witnessed Rapid Decline Through September

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The monthly imports of iron ore by Mexico declined sharply, in accordance with the latest data released by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) for the month of September last year.

Mexico imported 206,313 tonnes of iron ore during the month, showing a rapid decline of 54.5% when matched with the imports during the same month a year before. The country’s imports had totaled 453,550 tonnes in September 2016. The total value of imports too dropped sharply by over 40% from $31.6 million to $18.9 million. Meantime, the per tonne prices of the imported steel making raw material surged higher by almost one-third from 69.7 to 91.7.

Brazil was the largest supplier of iron ore to Mexico. The imports from Brazil totaled 128,829 tonnes in September 2017 at an average of $87.6 per tonne. The Mexican ore imports from Sweden totaled 45,152 tonnes. The US was the third leading supplier with exports to Mexico totaling 32,331 tonnes.

The imports of agglomerated iron ore during September 2017 totaled 32,235 tonnes. The only exporter of agglomerated ore to Mexico was the US. The value of agglomerated ore imports declined nearly 15% to total $4.03 million during the month. The average import price stood at $125 per tonne.

The non-agglomerated iron ore imports by Mexico registered 57% decline year-on-year. The imports fell from 410,666 tonnes in September 2016 to 174,078 tonnes in September last year. The key suppliers during the month were Brazil (128,829 tonnes) and Sweden (45,152 tonnes). The value of non-agglomerated iron ore imports witnessed sharp 45% decline to $14.9 million. Meantime, the import value averaged around $85.6 per tonne.

The country imported 1.6 million tonnes of iron ore during the first three quarters of 2017. The imports dropped sharply by 40% when compared with the year before. Brazil (1.19 million tonnes), Sweden (262,274 tonnes) and the USA (106,602 tonnes) were the top three suppliers to Mexico during this period.

The agglomerated iron ore imports during Jan-Sep ’17 are still higher by nearly 58%. The combined imports during this period totaled 607,080 tonnes as against the imports of 385,036 tonnes in Jan-Sep ’16. The non-agglomerated imports just fell shy of 1 million tonnes, down by 56% when compared with the previous year.