Pilbara boost lift Australian December iron ore exports

Australia's iron ore exports rose in December 2022 compared with the previous month, as exports from the key Pilbara ports of Port Hedland and Dampier hit a new record for the year.

Australia shipped 81.48mn t in December last year, up from 76.69mn t in November, while largely unchanged from December 2021, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) supplied through GTT.

Shipments to China increased by 3.28pc for 2022 compared a year earlier, offsetting reduced shipments to Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. China took 84.4pc of Australia's iron ore exports during 2022 compared with 82.9pc in 2021.

The value of Australian iron ore exports rose to $7.42bn in December last year, up from $6bn in November because of higher volumes and prices and also up from $7.02bn in December 2021.

Australia shipped 19.6mn t of lump and 61.67mn t of fines in December compared with 17.97mn t and 58.35mn t respectively in November.

The average price for Australian iron ore fines was $91.01/t in December last year, up from $78.28/t in November and from $86.17/t in December 2021, according to ABS data. The December prices were based on the Australian-US dollar exchange rate of $0.6752 used by the ABS. The exchange rate used was up from $0.6594 in November.

The Argus ICX seaborne fines price for 62pc Fe ore delivered to China averaged $111.15/dry metric tonne (dmt) cfr Qingdao in December 2022, up from $93.13/dmt in November but down slightly from $112.94/dmt in December 2021. The ICX price averaged $122.93/dmt in January.

The Argus ICX was assessed at $124.60/dmt cfr Qingdao on a 62pc Fe basis on 6 February, up from $117.60/dmt on 30 December. Argus assessed 58pc Fe at $111/dmt cfr Qingdao on 6 February, up from $102.15/dmt on 30 December.

By Kitty Xie

Iron ore grade spread ($/dmt)