in Dry Bulk Market,Hellenic Shipping News 30/07/2022

According to the shipbroker, “in January-June 2022, global iron ore loadings declined by -2.6% y-o-y to 735.7 mln tonnes, from 755.1 mln tonnes in the same period of 2021. Exports from Australia increased by +0.4% y-o-y in Jan-Jun 2022 to 435.9 mln tonnes, just a little below 2020 levels, which was the most recent record high, and above the levels of 2018 and 2019. Exports from Brazil, on the other hand, declined by -5.8% y-o-y so far this year to 154.3 mln tonnes, from 163.8 mln tonnes in the first half of last year, although they were still higher than in 2020 and just a shade below the levels of 2019. Demand is weighted down by a weakening economy in China, with iron ore imports into the country down by -4.2% y-o-y to 515.3 mln tonnes in the first 6 months of 2022”.

Source: banchero costa &c s.p.a

Banchero Costa added that “on the other hand, the European Union is seeing a revival, with imports up +6.6% y-o-y to 42.7 mln tonnes in the same period. Imports into Europe, however, are still well below the levels of 2019 (48.1 mln t in the Jan-Jun period of that year) and 2018 (47.7 mln t). Japan is the second largest importer of iron ore in the world, after Mainland China, and ahead of the EU and South Korea”.

“In Jan-Dec 2021, Japan accounted for 6.5% of global seaborne iron ore shipments. Iron ore imports into Japan have been steadily declining over the years, even before Covid-19. Japan’s iron ore imports in the 12 months of 2020 declined by -13.3% y-o-y to 86.3 mln t, from 99.5 mln t in 2019. That was itself down -9.1% from 109.5 mln t in 2018. In 2021, volumes into Japan rebounded quite strongly, increasing by +14.0% y-o-y to 98.3 mln tonnes. This however was still below the 99.5 mln tonnes Japan imported in 2019, and well below the 109.5 mln tonnes imported in 2018”.

Source: banchero costa &c s.p.a

“When it comes to 2022, things have stabilized at fairly flat levels. In January-June 2022, Japan imported 48.2 mln tonnes of iron ore, down -0.7% y-o-y from 48.5 mln tonnes in the same period of 2021. This was well above the 44.2 mln tonnes imported in the first half of 2022, but below the 50.0 mln tonnes of the first half of 2019. In terms of sources of iron ore imports into Japan, things changed a little bit more in recent months. Australia remains by far the largest exporter to Japan, accounting for 67.7% of Japan’s imports this year. Volumes from Australia to Japan declined marginally in the first half of this year by -1.1% y-o-y to 32.6 mln tonnes. The second largest source for Japan’s iron ore imports is Brazil, accounting for a 11.6% share. Shipments from Brazil to Japan actually managed to increase this year, by +15.8% y-o-y to 5.6 mln tonnes in the first 6 months of 2022, from 4.8 mln tonnes in the same period of 2021. However, they are still below the 6.4 mln tonnes in 1H 2019, and well below the 9.1 mln t in 1H 2018. The third largest supplier is Canada with a 7.1% share. Volumes from Canada to Japan declined by -10.1% y-o-y to 3.4 mln tonnes in 1H 2022. Shipments from the Philippines increased by +17.8% y-o-y to 2.7 mln tonnes. Volumes from South Africa to Japan increased by +15.7% y-o-y to 1.9 mln tonnes in 1H 2022”, the shipbroker concluded. Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide