Combined iron ore exports from four of the largest producers in Western Australia (WA) were 13pc higher than the 12-month rolling weekly average in the week to 28 December, as the four producers ramped up loadings before the end of the year.
Iron ore producers BHP, Fortescue, Roy Hill and Rio Tinto loaded vessels with a combined capacity of 19.76mn deadweight tonnes (dwt) over 22-28 December, up from 17.29mn dwt in the week to 21 December. The deadweight volume is the maximum capacity of a vessel and typically overestimates shipments by about 5pc.
Exports were at their highest since the week to 29 June and exceeded the 12-month rolling average of 17.46mn dwt.
Rio Tinto's shipments remained high at 7.57mn dwt over the week. This was slightly higher than the firm's shipments in the previous week, far above its 12-month weekly average of 6.49mn dwt, and marked its highest weekly shipments since early November.
BHP loadings surged to 6.61mn dwt over the period, up from 4.9mn dwt a week earlier and much above its 5.95mn dwt 12-month weekly average.
Fortescue's loadings jumped to 4.54mn dwt from 3.86mn dwt a week earlier, well above its 3.8mn dwt 12-month average.
Roy Hill's exports rebounded to 1.05mn dwt from 982,862dwt during the week to 21 December, after collapsing to zero three weeks earlier. This may indicate that the company has finished its seasonal maintenance and has restarted loadings. But shipments were still significantly below the firm's 12-month weekly average of 1.22mn dwt.
Spot freight rates in the Pacific remained low in late December as iron ore demand slowed. Capesize rates on the key west Australia-north China route for cargoes loading from mid-January were at their lowest since February 2023, at $6.15/t on 27 December, falling from a recent high of $10.75/t on 26 November.
Overall iron ore shipments from the four main west Australia ports — Hedland, Walcott, Dampier and Onslow — edged higher to 73.71mn dwt on 1-28 December from 73.5mn dwt a year earlier, provisional shipping data indicate. Shipments to China — where most cargoes are shipped to — rose to 63.69mn dwt from 60.56mn dwt a year earlier. But exports to Japan and South Korea dropped from 9.73mn dwt over 1-28 December 2023 to 6.78mn dwt over the period this year. Shipments to the two countries were lower for most of December but companies loaded additional cargoes in the last full week of the month in order to conclude the sales before the end of the year.
If iron ore producers maintain the pace of exports seen over 22-28 December during the last three days of the month, they could load an additional 8.7mn dwt before the end of the year. Total western Australian iron ore exports for 2024 could then reach around 942.1mn dwt, a 2.2pc increase from the 921.6mn dwt exported in 2023. Rio Tinto's full-year exports could be 0.6pc lower on the year, at around 340.7mn dwt, according to preliminary shipping data. And BHP's shipments could increase by 4.2pc to 312.1mn dwt, while Fortescue's exports could rise by 2.8pc to 198.6mn dwt, preliminary shipping data indicate. Roy Hill's exports could decrease by 4.7pc on the year to 63.5mn dwt in 2024.
Total western Australian iron ore exports to China could increase by 3.1pc to 785.3mn dwt in 2024, preliminary shipping data show, reflecting increased steel exports and stocks in China. Shipments to South Korea could rise by 2.1pc to 53.7mn dwt in 2024, but shipments to Japan could fall by 6.7pc to 57.1mn dwt because of struggles in the country's automobile industry this year.
Iron ore producer MinRes began exports from its Onslow facility in May. All of the firm's 4.6mn dwt of exports have been shipped to China, as of 25 December.
