Australia's Port Hedland July iron ore shipments down to 17.533 mln tonnes in July

Iron ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland, one of the world's largest export terminals, declined by 5.5 percent to 17.53 million tonnes in July from 18.55 million tonnes in June, data released by the port authority showed on Tuesday. Shipments to China, the ports biggest destination, dropped to 12.62 million from 13.88 million tonnes in June. BHP Billiton is the port's biggest user followed by Fortescue Metals Group Ltd .