In January of the current year, iron ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland decreased by 4.20 percent compared to the previous month and were up 27.74 percent year on year, totaling 28.23 million metric tons.
According to the information released by Port Hedland Port Authority, in January this year iron ore shipments made from Port Hedland to China amounted to 23.31 million metric tons, decreasing by 3.52 percent compared to the previous month and up 26.83 percent compared to the same month in 2013. South Korea and Japan followed China in January, receiving 2.74 million mt and 1.43 million mt respectively.
Port Hedland handles production from mines owned by BHP Billiton, Atlas Iron and Fortescue Metals Group in the iron ore-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia.