Capacity utilisation rate of domestic iron ore mines dipped amid accidents in October, and may barely grow in November

According to SMM calculations, the capacity utilisation rate of domestic mines in October was 56.5%, down 0.8% MoM. With one day more than the previous month, iron ore concentrate output in October was 21.537 million mt, up 383,000 mt or 1.8% MoM.

A big part of the falling capacity utilisation rate in October was because was that mine accidents in many places, especially in Liaoning, Shanxi, Shandong, Anhui and other major domestic mine production areas.

SMM predicted that the capacity utilisation rate of domestic mines in November will have difficulty improving, in view of mine accident fallouts and weaker-than-expected restart of mines. In addition, iron ore output in some high-latitude regions, like the north, northwest, northeast, etc., will dip as the temperature drops.