Netherlands Recorded 5% Drop in Imports of Iron Ore

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest trade statistics published by Eurostat suggests marginal decline in iron ore imports by Netherlands during the first ten months of 2017. The monthly imports surged higher in October 2017.

Netherlands, the topmost iron ore importer in the EU region, imported 2.425 million tonnes (Mt) of iron ore in October 2017. The imports edged higher marginally by 3.3% when matched with the imports during the same month a year before. Netherland’s iron ore imports had totaled 2.348 Mt during October ’16. The import prices averaged at $79.7 per tonne, significantly higher by 28.3% from $62.1 per tonne a year before. The total value of imports too increased sharply by 33% $59.7 million to $193.16 million.

The key suppliers of iron ore to Netherlands were Brazil and Canada. The imports from these countries accounted for nearly 80% of the total monthly imports by the country. Out of this Brazil supplied 1.098 Mt, whereas Canadian supplies totaled 830,669 tonnes during the month. The value of iron ore imports by Brazil and Canada totaled $85.16 million and $71.0 million respectively. Sweden (285,176 tonnes) and Norway (122,227 tonnes) were the other main iron ore suppliers.

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The combined imports during the first ten months of the previous year have dropped by 4.8% from 26.175 million tonnes in 2016 to 24.920 Mt in 2017. Out of this, 20.145 Mt were non-agglomerated iron ore, whereas the balance 4.775 Mt was agglomerated ore. The average import prices have surged higher by 51% to $82.7 per tonne. Also, the value of imports witnessed significant jump by 44% during the ten-month period.

The key exporter of iron ore to Netherlands during Jan-Oct ’17 was Brazil. The imports from that country totaled 14.501 Mt at an average price of $79.9 per tonne. The value of imports from Brazil amounted to $1.158 billion. The other main sources of import were Canada (2.909 million tonnes), South Africa (2.425 Mt) and Sweden (1.897 Mt).