Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal in May rose 2.4 percent from a month earlier to 37 million tonnes, port data released on Monday showed.
Iron ore shipments to China in April stood at 36.1 million tonnes.
Overall iron ore shipments from the world's biggest export terminal rose to 45 million tonnes in May from 42.6 million tonnes in the previous month, the Pilbara Ports Authority said.
Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners - BHP Billiton , Fortescue Metals Group and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Sam Holmes)