Iron ore shipments to China from Port Hedland in Western Australia hit a record 17.6 million mt in October, some 2.5 million mt higher than the previous month, data released by the Port Hedland Port Authority showed.
The export figure bettered the previous record of 16.7 million mt in August and indicates that Chinese steel mills are restocking ahead of winter after adopting a hand-to-mouth approach to ore buying in recent months.
Total iron ore exports from the port, which is used primarily by BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Atlas Iron, reached 21.75 million mt, up 9% on September's 19.9 million mt.
Total shipments in October were up 9.5% on the 19.8 million mt exported in October last year, with the shipments to China 20% higher than the 14.7 million mt sent a year ago.
Around 2 million mt of iron ore was shipped to South Korea and 1.4 million mt to Japan in October, compared with 1.9 million mt and 2.1 million mt, respectively, in September.
Port Hedland has export capacity of 495 million mt/year but currently operates at around 50% of capacity. BHP has an allocation of 240 million mt/year, which it expects to reach by around 2016 by developing its facility at the port's inner harbor. The Melbourne-headquartered miner exported 159.5 million mt of iron ore in the 12 months to June 30 this year and expects to lift production capacity by 5% over the next 12 months.