Australia Port Hedland iron ore exports to China rise 7 pct

SYDNEY, May 5 (Reuters) - Iron ore exports to China from Australia's Port Hedland, which accounts for about a fifth of the globally traded market, rose by almost 7 percent in April, from March when they jumped 27 percent.

Shipments to China amounted to 28.89 million tonnes in April, up from 27.04 million in March, data from the Port Hedland Port Authority showed.

That was almost 50 percent higher than in April last year, a sign of still resilient demand from the Asian giant and of Australia's success in grabbing market share from other producers.

Overall shipments of iron ore from Port Hedland edged up to a fresh record of 34.82 million tonnes, from 34.43 million in March. That compares to 26 million tonnes in April last year.

Shipments to South Korea fell back to 2.62 million tonnes in April, from 4.1 million tonnes the previous month. Shipments to Japan picked up to 2.48 million tonnes, from just over 2 million tonnes in March.

Port Hedland is used by BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) , Fortescue Metals Group and Atlas Iron (Frankfurt: A0DNWE - news) to ship iron ore cargoes.

The steel-making mineral is Australia's single biggest export earner. (Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Richard Pullin)