Russia's Iron Ore exports nosedived in April; YTD exports down 35%

MOSCOW (Scrap Monster): The trade statistics released by the Customs Committee of Russia indicate that iron ore exports by the country declined significantly during the month of April this year. The exports during the four-month period from January to April this year too were down sharply when matched with the previous year.

The Russian iron ore exports during April this year totaled 1.388 million tonnes, dropping significantly by 47.7% when compared with the exports during the same month a year before. The exports had totaled 2.656 million tonnes during April 2015. The average price of export dropped by 18.4% to $43.3 per tonne when matched with the average export price of $53.10 per tonne during April last year. Also, the total value of exports dropped sharply by 57.4% from $140.932 million to $60.085 million.

The largest importer of iron ore from Russia during the month was Finland. The imports of Russian iron ore by the country totaled 388,322 tons, accounting for nearly 28% of the total monthly exports. The exports from Russia to the country averaged at $53.9 per tonne. The total value of exports totaled $20.929 million. The other key importers of iron ore from Russia during the month were China (353,201 tons), Turkey (157,845 tons) and Slovakia (146,885 tons).

The agglomerated iron ore exports during April ’16 totaled 723,123 tonnes, dropping sharply by 33.3% over the previous year. Finland was the key importer of agglomerated iron ore from Russia during the month with 388,322 tonnes. The other main destinations of agglomerated iron ore from Russia were Turkey (157,845 tonnes), Slovakia (62,270 tonnes) and the UK (57,252 tonnes).

The non-agglomerated iron ore exports by Russia totaled 665,130 tonnes, dropping sharply by 57.7% from 1.572 million tonnes in April 2015. China was the primary importer of non-agglomerated iron ore during the month. The Chinese imports of agglomerated iron ore from Russia totaled 348,778 tons. The other key importers were Poland (127,837 tonnes), Slovakia (84,615 tons) and Czech Republic (75,565 tonnes). The average price of monthly exports was down considerably by 30.8% during the month to $29.70 per tonne. The non-agglomerated exports were valued at $19.723 million.

The Russian iron ore exports during January to April this year totaled 5.492 million tons, declining considerably by nearly 35% when compared with the exports during the corresponding period a year before. The exports had totaled 8.445 million tons during Jan-April 2015. The average price of exports dropped significantly by over 28% to $39.20 per tonne when matched with the average export price of $55.00 per tonne during the initial four-month period last year. Also, the total value of exports dropped sharply by 53.7% year-on-year from $464.71 million to $215.37 million.

The largest importer of iron ore from Russia during the four-month period was China. The Chinese imports from the country totaled 1.587 million tonnes, accounting for nearly 30% of the total Russian exports. The imports by China averaged at $39.20 per tonne. The value of Chinese imports totaled $62.136 million. The other key importers of Russian iron ore during Jan-Apr ’16 were Ukraine (748,014 tonnes), Slovakia (716,560 tonnes) and Turkey (586,975 tonnes).

The agglomerated iron ore exports during Jan-April ’16 totaled 2.161 million tons, dropping considerably by nearly 40% over the previous year. Turkey was the key importer of agglomerated iron ore from Russia during this period. The exports to Turkey totaled 586,975 tonnes, followed by Finland with 580,834 tonnes.

The Russian non-agglomerated iron ore exports totaled 3.331 million tonnes during the four-month period from January to April this year, dropping sharply by 31.4% from 4.858 million tons during the same period a year before. China was the primary importer of non-agglomerated iron ore during this period. The Chinese imports of Russian agglomerated iron ore totaled 1.3 million tonnes. The other key importers were Ukraine (737,742 tons), Slovakia (471,930 tons) and Czech Republic (292,560 tons). The average price of monthly exports was down considerably by 31.5% to $30.50 per tonne. The non-agglomerated exports were valued at $101.449 million.