China reports 7% surge in iron ore imports during October

By Anil Mathews

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The country’s iron ore imports increased modestly during the month of October this year, says latest statistics released by the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

The country’s iron ore imports totaled 80.799 million tons during the month. This is higher by 7.0% when matched with the imports during the corresponding month last year. The country had imported 75.521 million tons of iron ore during October 2015. Also, the total value of imports by the country increased sharply by nearly 11% over the year from $4.421 billion in October last year to $4.899 billion in October 2016. The average import price too has increased marginally by 3.6% year-on-year to $60.6 per ton in October this year. The Chinese iron ore imports had averaged at $58.5 per ton in October 2015.

The largest exporter of iron ore to China during the month was Australia. The imports from Australia totaled 49.886 million tons, valued at $2.98 billion. The import prices averaged at $59.70 per ton. Brazil exported 17.881 million tons of iron ore to China during the month. The imports from Brazil were valued at $1.125 billion. The average price of import stood at $62.9 per ton. In third place was South Africa with 3.379 million tons. The total value of imports from the country amounted to $221.599 million. The imports from the country averaged at $65.6 per ton during October this year. The other key exporters of iron ore to China were Canada (1.223 million tons), Mauritania (1.157 million tons) and India (1.022 million tons).

The imports of agglomerated iron ore during October ’16 totaled 986,000 tons, significantly lower by 45.7% when compared with the same month a year before. The Chinese agglomerated iron ore imports had totaled 1.817 million tons during October 2015. The value of imports amounted to $88.807 million during Oct ‘16. The import value has dropped sharply by nearly 41% when compared with the previous year. The Chinese iron ore imports were valued at $149.583 million during October 2015. The import prices of agglomerated ore saw considerable increase of 9.4% over the year. The average import price edged higher from $82.30 per ton in Oct ‘15 to $90.1 per ton in Oct ‘16.

The largest exporter of agglomerated iron ore to China was India. The exports from the country totaled 527,000 tons. The value of iron ore imports from India totaled $48.910 million. The imports averaged at $92.8 per ton. The other key exporters during the month were Chile (144,000 tons), Australia (128,000 tons) and Russia (71,000 tons).

The imports of non agglomerated iron ore totaled 79.813 million tons, accounting for over 98.8% of the total imports. The non-agglomerated iron ore imports by the country grew by 8.3% when matched with 73.704 million tons imported during October 2015. The value of non-agglomerated iron ore imports has increased modestly by nearly 13% year-on-year to $4.810 billion from $4.271 billion a year before.

The country imported non-agglomerated iron ore mainly from Australia. The imports from Australia totaled 49.758 million tons at an average price of $59.6 per ton. The value of Australian iron ore imports totaled $2.967 billion. The other primary exporters of non-agglomerated iron ore to China during October this year were Brazil (17.881 million tons), South Africa (3.379 million tons) and Canada (1.190 million tons).