Slowing demand from steelmakers has forced iron ore miners to cut production, but BHP has so far said it doesn’t plan to scale back its Western Australian production with any extra tonnes to be sold into the spot market.

The Port Hedland Port Authority website noted the November exports from the Pilbara were down 1.4 per cent on October shipments of 10.2 million tonnes and 17.6 per cent lower than the record 12.26 million tonnes exported in June.

The port’s website also shows a slowing in export volumes for Fortescue Metals Group, which halted shipping for part of the period to carry out expansion work.

Fortescue’s shipments of 1.8 million tonnes were down 5.8 per cent on October and 29.8 per cent lower than the record July shipments of 2.5 million tonnes.(Source: The Wall Street Journal )