Another record for global iron ore exports, yet prices signalled a pause!

Up +4% YoY against record inventories at Chinese ports, weekly global iron exports reached a new record at 36.6Mt/wk last week.

A chart displaying the evolution of global iron ore exports over a 5-year period, with separate graphs for the last 3 years, utilizing colors from the IG color palette.

With cumulated exports in the first half of 2024 rising +4.4% YoY to 816Mt, the week was far from an outlier. Triggered by improving economic data on China’s economy, yet ignoring abundant supply, iron ore prices rallied by +12% WoW. The spike suggests a pause in opportunistic purchases in Asia, as confirmed by the Capesize spot index relaxing -8% DoD from a 32.2k$/day high on Tuesday.

If you would like to get more information on this topic and the impact on the freight market, please reach out to us on: [email protected].