Iron ore volumes boom

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The AFR is reporting that:

Iron ore exports from Port Hedland, used by miners including BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group, rose to a record level in the June quarter.

The total exports of 64.7 million tonnes during the period topped the previous quarterly record of 60.9 million tonnes set during the December quarter and was 16 per cent higher than the cyclone-affected March quarter.

Port Hedland does not ship Rio’s ore but it a good proxy. Here’s the chart:

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A nice volume offset to the falling price, as planned. I still expect the trade deficit to blow out again in July as the much lower thermal coal prices of the last three months flow through to contract prices but this will help.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.