Australian Iron Ore and Coal Exports

Coal, Iron Ore

Australian exports of iron ore reached a five-month high of 80.5 Mt (wet basis) in November, climbing 5.0 Mt year-on-year, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show. Shipments in January-November were 12.9 Mt above the same period last year at 844.3 Mt.

Full-year data from Port Hedland show, despite decreasing 1.6 Mt year-on-year to 49.3 Mt in December, iron ore throughput reached a new annual high and rose 13.7 Mt to 559.7 Mt in 2022. Total year exports to China jumped 25.6 Mt to 479.4, while shipments to South Korea and Japan fell 7.8 Mt and 4.2 Mt to a respective 36.3 Mt and 24.2 Mt.

Australia exported 26.6 Mt of coal in November, 2.7 Mt below the same month last year, as steam coal shipments declined 3.0 Mt to 13.1 Mt. Coking coal exports rose slightly to 13.5 Mt. Newswires report China has ended an unofficial two-year ban on coal imports from Australia.