Brazilian iron ore exports dip 1% in July

Brazilian iron ore exports appear to be maintaining the pace of their recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with volumes dipping by just 0.69% on the year in July.

August 4, 2020

But exports were higher month on month, according to figures released by the country’s economy ministry on Monday August 3.

The country shipped 33.99 million tonnes of iron ore last month, compared with 34.23 million tonnes a year earlier.

Last month’s shipment volumes are 3.94 million tonnes (13%) higher than June’s 30.05 million tonnes.

Brazil’s Vale is taking a cautious approach with its iron ore output guidance for 2020. It expects to reach the lower end of its guidance of 310-330 million tonnes due to effects of Covid-19 on its operations.

Fastmarkets’ index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao was at $116.03 per tonne on Monday, up by $5.45 per tonne from $110.58 on July 30, and $16.86 per tonne higher than July 1’s $99.17 per tonne.

The average export price for Brazilian iron ore was $70.30 per tonne fob in July, down by 6.09% from $74.80 per tonne fob in July 2019, according to Brazil’s economy ministry. In June, the average price was $62.70 per tonne fob.

The country’s revenue from iron ore exports amounted to $2.39 billion last month, down by 6.74% from the $2.56 billion in July 2019, according to the ministry’s statistics.