Rio Tinto raises Western Australia iron ore shipments

Iron ore shipments from the four largest producers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia (WA) have stayed above average levels for the fifth consecutive week, with strong Rio Tinto shipments offsetting a weaker performance by BHP.

The four producers — UK-Australian resource giants BHP and Rio Tinto, and Australian producers Fortescue Metals and Roy Hill — loaded vessels with 19.47mn deadweight tonnes (dwt) of capacity in the week to 17 October. This is up from 17.62mn dwt in the week to 10 October and above the average of 17.19mn dwt/week over the past year. The deadweight tonnage is the maximum capacity of the vessel and overestimates actual shipments by around 5pc.

Rio Tinto's weekly shipments of 9.03mn dwt were the second highest since the record of 9.44mn dwt set in the week to 6 June. Shipments were up from 7.51mn dwt a week earlier and 33pc above its average of 6.79mn dwt/week.

Rio Tinto has had a strong start to October, after a weak July-September quarter, when it shipped 82.1mn t. The company needs to ship 82mn-92mn t of iron ore from WA in October-December to meet its 2020 guidance of 324mn-334mn t, and it may want to push out tonnage early in the quarter to avoid the expected early start to the November-April cyclone season in WA associated with the La Nina weather pattern this year.

BHP was the only firm to ship below average, for the second week in a row. It loaded ships with 5.36mn dwt of capacity in the week to 17 October, down from 5.43mn dwt in the previous week and below its annual rolling average of 5.82mn dwt/week.

Fortescue's shipments increased to 3.53mn dwt from 3.35mn dwt in the previous week and were above its average of 3.49mn dwt. Roy Hill loaded ships with 1.54mn dwt capacity, up from 1.34mn dwt in the previous week and above its 12-month average of 1.08mn dwt/week.

China was listed as the destination for 74pc of shipments in the latest week, down from 83pc a week earlier. But after including shipments with unconfirmed destinations — most of which are likely headed to China — the percentage was 80pc, down from 87pc a week earlier and below the average of 83pc.

Argus assessed the ICX iron ore price at $119.20/t cfr Qingdao on a 62pc Fe basis on 20 October, down from a six-year high of $130.50/t on 3 September but up from $85.80/t six months earlier.

Jo Clarke

WA iron ore loadings mn dwt