Brazilian iron-ore exports fell 16% in June

Production and Markets

Publishing Date: 02 Jul 2009 5:15pm GMT
Author: Mining Journal

Brazilian iron-ore exports fell 16% in June from a year earlier after steelmakers abroad turned off blast furnaces, cutting demand for the raw material.
Iron-ore shipments fell to 21.4Mt last month, from 25.6Mt in June 2008, Brazil’s Trade Ministry said today on its website. Exports were 39% more than in May, when flooding interrupted Vale SA’s railway.
The global economic slowdown has pared steel demand from builders and carmakers, prompting producers of the metal to scale back output.
"It’s still early to talk of a recovery," Antonio Lannes, an economics data manager for the Brazilian iron-ore and metals producers and exporters’ association known as Sinferbase. "May was an atypical month due to flooding in Para state, which put the Carajas railway out of action for a week."
Vale, the world’s biggest iron-ore miner, ships more than 40% of its output along the railroad in northern Brazil.

(Bloomberg, July 2)