In February this year, iron ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland decreased by 1.55 percent compared to January and were up 39.62 percent year on year, totaling 27.79 million metric tons.

According to the information released by Port Hedland Port Authority, in February iron ore shipments made from Port Hedland to China amounted to 21.34 million metric tons, increasing by 8.43 percent compared to January and up 36.27 percent compared to the same month of 2013. Japan and South Korea followed China in January this year, receiving 2.80 million mt and 2.61 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.