China’s great appetite for Port Hedland iron ore

Iron ore exports from Australia’s Port Hedland to China jumped nearly 40% year over year this November, with shipments reaching 22.3 million tonnes from 16.2 million tonnes a year earlier.

November 2013 iron ore shipments from Port Hedland to China were down 11.5% from October 2013.

November 2013 shipments to Japan rose 38% to 2.2 million tonnes and doubled to Korea, reaching 2.9 million tonnes.

Rio Tinto, whose shipments are not included in the data, is “expanding its export capacity by a third to 290 million tonnes from Indian Ocean ports south of Port Hedland on Australia’s west coast,” Reuters reports.