BHP's Monthly Iron Ore Shipments Fall to Nine-Month Low

Global miner BHP Billiton shipped its smallest amount of Australian iron ore for nine months in November, port data showed on Tuesday, in another sign of weakening demand from Asian steel-makers.

BHP, the world's third-biggest iron ore miner behind Vale of Brazil and Australia's Rio Tinto, exported 10.1 million tonnes from Port Hedland, on Australia's north-west coast, in November, its lowest monthly shipment since February when 8.5 million tonnes were shipped, the data showed.

The November figure was also down 1.4% from October.

BHP said last month that some customers had asked it to defer up to 5%, or about six million tonnes, of total production for the year to June 2009, as global steel production declined in the face of a worldwide economic slowdown.

BHP said at the time it had no plans to cut Australian production despite the requests and was looking at ways to minimise the deferrals over the remainder of 2008-09.

By James Regan, Reuters