SYDNEY (Reuters) - Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal rose 11 percent to 39.1 million tonnes in December from 35.2 million in November, port data released on Tuesday showed.
Total December iron ore shipments from the world's biggest export terminal for the steelmaking raw material totalled 46.2 million tonnes versus 41.3 million tonnes the previous month, according to the Pilbara Ports Authority.
Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners, BHP <BHP.AX>, <BLT.L>, Fortescue Metals Group <FMG.AX> and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.
Rio Tinto <RIO.AX>, <RIO.L> uses the nearby Dampier and Cape Lambert ports to ship iron ore.
(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
