Australia's Fortescue shipped iron ore cargoes to India and Vietnam this week after a months-long hiatus, Kpler data showed, as the world's fourth-largest iron ore supplier remains locked in talks on its annual supply contract with top customer China.
Earlier this month, state iron ore buyer China Mineral Resources Group (CMRG) asked domestic steel mills not to take delivery of some of Fortescue's iron ore held at Chinese ports.
Beijing is using increasingly hardball tactics against iron ore miners to tighten its grip on the $132 billion seaborne market and extract better terms for Chinese steel mills, which are suffering amid thin margins and falling demand.
Mineral Italia, laden with 203,000 tonnes of iron ore, departed from Australia's Anderson Point, Fortescue's export hub at Port Hedland, on Friday to head to India, Kpler data showed. It is due to arrive in India on August 16.
This is Fortescue's first iron ore cargo to India since December 2024, according to Kpler.
Mineral Arcus, carrying 174,000 tonnes of Fortescue iron ore, left Anderson Point on July 28 and is scheduled to arrive in Son Duong in Vietnam on August 10, Kpler data showed.
Fortescue last shipped iron ore to Vietnam in December 2025.
Meanwhile, Fortescue's weekly iron ore shipments to China fell 70 per cent in the week from July 27 from the week before to the lowest level since February 2020 at 1.17 million tonnes, Kpler data showed.
Fortescue said on Friday the actions of China's state iron ore buyer were undermining the stable supply of iron ore to the country and it hoped for a swift return to normal market conditions after some of its shipments were affected.
(Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Alexander Smith)