TOKYO: The trade statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) for the month of January this year indicates significant drop in iron ore imports by the country.
The Japanese iron ore imports during the month totaled 10.384 Million tonnes, 5.9% lower when compared with the imports during the same month a year ago. The country’s iron ore imports had totaled 11.030 Million tonnes during January 2015. The import prices averaged at ¥ 7,010 per tonne, nearly 34.6% lower year-on-year. The iron ore import prices had averaged at ¥ 10,720 per tonne during January 2015.
The largest exporter of iron ore to Japan during January this year was Australia. The imports from Australia totaled 5.683 Million tonnes, accounting for almost 55% of the total imports by Japan during the month. The import prices of iron ore from Australia averaged at ¥6,134 per tonne during the month. The other key exporters of iron ore to Japan during Jan ’16 were Brazil (2.992 Mt at average price of ¥8,097 per tonne) and South Africa (604,848 tonnes at average price of ¥8,458 per tonne).
The imports of non-agglomerated iron ore by Japan totaled 9.320 Million tonnes. The key suppliers of non-agglomerated iron ore to Japan were Australia (5.683 Mt), Brazil (1.978 Mt) and South Africa (604,848 t). Brazil and Chile were the only suppliers of agglomerated iron ore to Japan during Jan ’16. The country imported 1.013 Mt of agglomerated iron ore from Brazil.
Meantime, the imports from Chile totaled 49,952 t. The non-agglomerated iron ore imports during the month declined sharply by 9.3% year-on-year in January. On the other hand, agglomerated iron ore imports by the country surged higher by over 40% during the month.
