BRUSSELS: The iron ore imports by the EU-28 countries declined sharply by nearly 12% during the first quarter of the current year. According to the latest statistics released by Eurostat, the imports totaled 25.082 million tonnes, considerably down by 11.7% when matched with the imports of 28.398 million tonnes during the same quarter in 2015. The import prices have dropped by over 29% year-on-year from $69.2 per tonne in Q1 2015 to $49.1 per tonne in Q1 this year.
The largest exporter of iron ore to EU-28 countries during the quarter was Brazil. The imports from Brazil totaled 11.696 million tonnes at an average price of $48.1 per tonne. This comprised of 9.038 million tonnes of non-agglomerated iron ore and 2.657 million tonnes of agglomerated ore. The second largest supplier of iron ore was Canada with 4.077 million tonnes. The country’s agglomerated and non-agglomerated iron ore exports to the EU-28 countries totaled 1.822 million tonnes and 2.254 million tonnes respectively. In third place was Ukraine with 3.656 million tonnes. The other key suppliers of iron ore to the region were Russia (1.540 million tonnes), South Africa (1.307 million tonnes), Mauritania (932,488 tonnes) and Liberia (901,022 tonnes).
The non-agglomerated iron ore imports by EU-28 countries dropped significantly by 12.8% over the previous year from 21.173 million tonnes in Q1 last year to 18.465 million tonnes in Q1 2016. The agglomerated iron ore imports too have dropped by 8.4% over the year from 7.226 million tonnes to 6.617 million tonnes.
The non-agglomerated iron ore imports have dropped by 10.4% during the month of March this year. The imports totaled 6.796 million tonnes in March this year, as against the imports of 7.582 million tonnes during March last year.
Brazil was the largest exporter of non-agglomerated iron ore to EU-28 countries during the month. The imports from Brazil totaled 3.362 million tonnes. In second place was Canada with 921,876 tonnes, followed by Ukraine with 826,946 tonnes. The other main exporters during the month were Russia (338,457 tonnes), South Africa (454,144 tonnes), Liberia (314,946 tonnes), Mauritania (245,238 tonnes).
The imports of agglomerated iron ore by the region dropped nearly 13% year-on-year in March. The imports totaled 2.538 million tonnes when compared with 2.914 million tonnes in March 2015.
The key exporter of agglomerated iron ore during the month was Canada. The imports from Canada totaled 927,328 tonnes. The other major suppliers of agglomerated iron ore were Brazil (807,670 tonnes), Ukraine (378,991 tonnes) and Russia (347,426 tonnes).
The combined imports of agglomerated and non-agglomerated iron ore by the region has declined by 11% during the month. The imports totaled 9.334 million tonnes when matched with the imports of 10.496 million tonnes during March last year. The primary exporters were Brazil (4.170 million tonnes), Canada (1.849 million tonnes) and Ukraine (1.206 million tonnes).
EU 28’s non-agglomerated iron ore imports totaled 6.099 million tonnes in February this year, significantly down by 15.4% year-on-year. The imports had totaled 7.209 million tonnes in February last year. The top three exporters during the month were Brazil (3.161 million tonnes), Ukraine (1.022 million tonnes) and Canada (521,066 tonnes).
The agglomerated iron ore imports by the region totaled 1.881 million tonnes, 13% down relative to imports of 2.163 million tonnes. The region imported agglomerated iron ore mainly from Brazil (911,748 tonnes), Canada (417,539 tonnes) and Ukraine (315,944 tonnes).
The combined imports during the month dropped sharply by 14.8% from 9.372 million tonnes to 7.980 million tonnes. The imports from Brazil totaled 4.170 million tonnes at an average price of USD 45.7 per tonne. The other exporters during the month were Canada (1.849 million tonnes), Ukraine (1.206 million tonnes) and Russia (685,883 tonnes).
