BEIJING: China’s imports of iron ore in August climbed 13.8% from July, customs data showed on Thursday, fuelled by growing demand from steel mills ramping up production ahead of the peak construction months.
The world’s largest iron ore consumer brought in 106.42 million metric tons of the key steelmaking ingredient last month, up 10.6% from a year earlier, according to data from the country’s General Administration of Customs.
The volumes last month were also up from 93.48 million tons imported in July.
Some steel mills in the northern city of Tangshan that had temporarily suspended blast furnace operations in July due to requirements to improve local air quality resumed production in early August.
Many mills across China maintained normal operations last month, in the absence of a government order to cap steel output, to generate cash flow despite shrinking steel margins amid rising raw materials prices.
Higher demand for iron ore was also reflected in the increase in daily output of hot metal - an intermediary product made in blast furnaces and widely used to gauge iron ore demand.
Hot metal production climbed to 2.46 million tons by the end of August, up 2% on the month and 7% on the year, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
A typhoon in late July affected the customs clearance of some iron ore cargoes, also contributing to higher import volumes in August, said Pei Hao, a Shanghai-based analyst at international brokerage firm FIS.
For the first eight months of 2023, China’s iron ore imports totalled 775.66 million tons, 7.4% higher than the same period a year earlier, customs data showed.
Steel trade
China’s exports of steel products in August climbed by 34.6% from the prior year to 8.28 million tons, which was also 13.3% higher than 7.31 million tons shipped in July, customs data showed.
The world’s largest steel producer shipped abroad 58.79 million tons of steel products from January to August, a 28.4% year-on-year increase, according to customs.
China imported 640,000 tons of steel products last month, down from 890,000 tons in August 2022, with the total over January-August period at 5.06 million tons, a drop of 32.1% on the year, the official data showed.
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