According to official data, the Mexican government has stopped the export of about 300,000 tons of iron ore (totaling US$30 million) since March from four ships: one containing 68,000 tons, two ships with 100,000 tons each, and a fourth ship whose volumen is still being calculated.
Francisco Orozco, president of the Mexican Association of Shipping Agents (Amanac), acknowledged that seized shipments were made through international shipping lines headed to China, and the ships remain anchored in the bay of Manzanillo on the instructions of federal authorities while they investigate operations that are accused of illegally exporting of iron ore.
Orozco noted that while the vessels were stopped at the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas, the identification of the originating mines are still unknown.
As SteelOrbis previously reported in early March, according to Alonso Ancira, president of the Mexican National Chamber of Iron and Steel Industry (Canacero), last year 10 million tons of iron ore from illegal mines were exported to China, resultin in losses for US$1 billion for the Mexican domestic steel industry.
