Chinese iron ore imports surged 22% in November, says customs data

By Anil Mathews (ScrapMonster Author)

January 13, 2016 06:06:28 AM

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The country’s iron ore imports surged higher significantly during the month of November last year, says China Customs statistics. The imports totaled 82.130 million tons, 21.9% higher when compared with the same month a year before. The Chinese iron ore imports had totaled 67,395 tons during Nov ’14.

The value of imports amounted to $4,706.881 million during Nov ’15. The import value has dropped sharply by over 12% when compared with the previous year. The Chinese iron ore imports were valued at $5,354.985 million during November 2014. The import prices saw considerable decline of 27.9% over the year. The average import price dropped from $79.5 per ton in Nov ’14 to $57.3 per ton in Nov ’15.

Out of the total imports of 82.130 million tons, non agglomerated iron ore accounted for 80.106 million tons, accounting for over 97% of the total imports. The non-agglomerated iron ore imports by the country grew by 21.5% when matched with 65.914 million tons imported during November 2014. The value of non-agglomerated iron ore imports has dropped by over 12% year-on-year to $4,549.783 million from $5,178.346 million a year before.

Agglomerated iron ore imports totaled 2.024 million tons during Nov ’15, significantly higher by 36.7% when matched with 1.481 million tons imported during Nov ’14. The value of agglomerated iron ore imports has dropped by over 11% year-on-year to $157.098 million from $176.639 million a year before. The unit average price of import dropped sharply by 35% from $119.30 per ton in Nov ’14 to $77.6 per ton in Nov ’15.

According to Customs statistics, port of Shijiazhuang imported the largest quantity of iron ore during November last year. The imports through the port totaled 22.435 million tons. The other major ports of import were Qingdao (12.994 million tons), Nanjing (8.532 million tons) and Beijing (4.594 million tons).