The US shipped 139,162t to China in August, 88.8pc lower than a year earlier and 51.8pc lower than July.

BHP is the only one of the big four Western Australian iron ore mining firms to operate major coking coal exporting facilities.

Steel shipments from US mills fell in August as the market continued to deal with declining prices.

US steelmaker Nucor is expecting to roll its first plate at its new Brandenburg, Kentucky, mill by the end of the year.

Japan and the US remained Vietnam's top two suppliers and accounted for 58pc of total imports in September.

Limited overseas scrap demand will continue to weigh on export prices, trade sources said.

High water storage levels at hydropower reservoirs have led Brazilian grid operator ONS and chamber of electric energy commercialization CCEE to launch a plan to export power to Argentina and Uruguay.

Rio Tinto, BHP, Fortescue and Roy Hill loaded vessels with a combined 17.12mn deadweight tonnes (dwt) of capacity.