Iron ore shipments from Western Australia's (WA) Port Hedland and Dampier have had a slow start to 2024 compared with 2023, despite a drier than average January-February at both ports.
Rio Tinto's iron ore terminals at Dampier shipped 13pc less ore during January-February than in the same period last year (see table), while the multi-user Port Hedland shipped 7pc less.
Dampier shipped 10.16mn t in February, down from 11.53mn t in January and 12.27mn t in February 2023. This was the lowest level shipped in a month since February 2022, despite 2024 being a leap year. Dampier exported 141.86mn t of iron ore in 2023, which was the most shipped since 2018.
Port Hedland shipped 38.81mn t in February, down from 42.33mn t in January but in line with February 2023. February shipments to China were at the lowest level in two years but this was partly offset by record monthly exports to Vietnam. The port has not shipped so few tonnes to China in the first two months of the calendar year since January-February 2021.
India continued buying ore from Port Hedland during January-February, making it nine months in a row. Volumes dropped to 189,000t in February from 376,000t in January but another shipment left in early March, according to initial shipping data. Fortescue shipped ore to India during June-August and November but it has not sent any shipments since early November, leaving Roy Hill as the only remaining shipper of iron ore from Port Hedland to India. The port dispatched 3.01mn t during June-December 2023, which was up from 193,000t in all of 2022. India last consistently bought ore from Port Hedland in 2018 when it took 7.89mn t.
BHP, Fortescue, Roy Hill, Hancock Prospecting and Mineral Resources export iron ore through Port Hedland. Rio Tinto has four independent shipping terminals split across Cape Lambert and Port Dampier.
The Argus ICX iron ore index was assessed at $108.10/dry metric tonne (dmt) cfr Qingdao on a 62pc Fe basis on 19 March, up from a low of $101.40/dmt on 15 March but down froman 18-month high of $144.25/dmt on 3 January.
| Western Australia iron ore loadings (mn t) | ||||||
| China | Japan | South Korea | Taiwan | Vietnam | Total | |
| Port Hedland | ||||||
| Feb '24 | 33.5 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 38.8 |
| Jan '24 | 34.9 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 42.3 |
| Feb '23 | 34.0 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 38.8 |
| Jan-Feb '24 | 68.4 | 2.8 | 6.0 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 81.1 |
| Jan-Feb '23 | 75.2 | 2.9 | 5.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 86.8 |
| Dampier exports | ||||||
| Feb '24 | Jan '24 | Feb '23 | Jan-Feb '24 | Jan-Feb '23 | ||
| 10.2 | 11.5 | 12.1 | 21.7 | 24.9 | ||
| Source: Pilbara Ports | ||||||
| Total includes all destinations not just those listed | ||||||
