Official Data: China Iron Ore and Pig Iron Output in March and Q1, Iron Ore Imports

The China Iron and Steel Association said that from January to March, China produced a total of 219.83 million mt of pig iron, a year-on-year increase of 7.60%, the domestic run-of-mine iron ore output was 243.27 million mt, a year-on-year decrease of 4.80%, and iron ore imports were 294.34 million mt, up 9.8% YoY.

At the end of March, the port inventory of imported iron ore was 134.61 million mt, a month-on-month decrease of 3.85%, and a year-on-year decrease of 12.52%.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China’s iron ore production was 86.4 million mt in March, down 4.80% year-on-year, and China’s iron ore production amounted to 243.27 million mt in the first quarter, up 0.70% year-on-year.

According to the data of the General Administration of Customs, in March, China’s iron ore imports were 100.23 million mt, a year-on-year increase of 14.8%, and a month-on-month increase of 10.64%; the import value was $11.8 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 0.4%; the average import price was $117.69/mt, a year-on-year decrease of 5.08%.

From January to March, the cumulative import of iron ore was 294.335 million mt, a year-on-year increase of 9.8%; the average import price was $110.57/mt, a year-on-year decrease of 0.68%.