Australian iron ore shipments bounce back in August

Shipments of iron ore from major Australian mining companies rebounded in August following maintenance outages in July, easing supply concerns that had sent prices to five-year highs.

Total exports from Australia-based producers Rio Tinto, BHP, Roy Hill, Atlas and Fortescue rose by 8.8pc to 80mn t in August from 73.5mn t in July, according to port and vessel tracking data.

BHP accounted for the largest month-on-month increase of 2.5mn t to 26.5mn t from July. BHP conducted shiploader maintenance that halted shipments from its Finucane Island A and B berths in early July.

Rio Tinto, Australia's largest iron ore producer, increased shipments by 2mn t to 32.3mn t. Roy Hill shipped 5.6mn t in August, up by 1.7mn t. Fortescue shipments rose by 295,995t to 14.1mn t.

A rebound in Brazilian iron ore shipments has also eased supply concerns, aided by Vale mine restarts after regulators and courts forced the shutdown of more than 90mn t/yr of capacity early in the year. Brazil will release August shipment data later this week.

The Argus ICX 62pc fines price fell by 27pc to $86.25/dry metric tonne (dmt) cfr Qingdao on 30 August from $118.25/dmt on 31 July. Prices hit a five-year high of $125.20/dmt on 3 July. A January dam collapse in Brazil and March cyclone in Australia's Pilbara region shed more than 100mn t from mining firms' shipment guidance.

The Australian producers shipped 18.78mn t in the week ended 31 August, up by 12.5pc from the previous week. This was the third-highest week in August, raising the shipments' four-week average to above the 18mn t level for the first time since mid-July.

Shipments to China rose by 15.4pc to 13.89mn t in the week to 31 August. It was the second-lowest week for China-bound cargoes in August, indicating that other countries took a larger share in late August.

Iron ore prices have rebounded this week to above the $90/dmt cfr Qingdao level on higher demand for October deliveries, especially for high-grade cargoes that mills will use to maximise productivity when steel demand returns after China's 70th anniversary celebrations on 1-7 October.

Weekly Australian iron ore shipments mn t