Domestic steel manufacturers have been struggling with the double whammy of reduced global iron ore prices and lower demand in the market, ISNA reported on Saturday.
According to data released by Iran Custom Administration, iron ore exports declined more than 66% in volume to 466,000 metric tons in the month ending on April 20 over the same period a year earlier, while export revenues were down by 83.1% to $15 million.
In terms of value, iron ore was the thirtieth non-oil commodity exported during the period. This while iron ore was the leading non-oil export commodity in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 20).
Iron ore exports experienced a steep decline over the past year, going from 1,448,107 tons in April, 2014 to only 18,411 tons by March, 2015. Total iron ore export dropped by nearly 70% over the preceding year to 7.5 million tons in terms of weight and $489.1 million in terms of value.
Iron ore’s contribution to non-oil exports in the first month of current Iranian year stood at 0.68% and 9.79% in terms of weight and value respectively.
China’s Steel Market
Meanwhile, despite the significant fall in iron-ore prices and the continued insistence of an oversupply in the market, China’s iron ore imports gained 2.4% to 227 million metric tons in the first quarter of 2015 over the same period a year earlier, according to data by China’s customs.
China exported 7.7 million tons of steel products in March, down 100,000 tons from February; the country exported 25.78 million tons of steel products in the first quarter, up 40.7%.
Iron ore lost 40 percent in the past year as Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. in Australia and Brazil’s Vale SA expanded low-cost output to boost volumes and cut costs, spurring a glut as China slowed. Major producers remain intent on expansions and a battle for market share is under way as miners attempt to reduce costs faster than prices are dropping, according to Credit Suisse Group AG.
