Australia's Pilbara Port Authority said on Wednesday that iron ore exports to China jumped 21.6% to 40.43 mln tonnes in March from the month earlier.
Exports from the world's biggest iron ore export hub stood at 33.26 million tonnes in February when China typically imports less due to its Lunar New Year holidays. Iron ore miners in March shipped out the third highest volumes since January 2019.
The monthly figure was 31.8% higher than March, 2019, when exports from the Western Australian port were curtailed by tropical cyclone Veronica.
Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners, BHP Billiton <BHP.AX>, Fortescue Metals Group <FMG.AX> and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
