SHANGHAI, Jul 15 (SMM) – China imported 75.18 million mt of iron ores and concentrates in June, down 8.57 million mt from May and 9.7% from June 2018, showed SMM calculations based on data from China Customs on Friday July 12.

This brought imports in the first half of the year to 499.09 million mt, with a year-over-year decline of 5.9%.

Customs data also showed that China’s exports of steel product came in at 5.31 million mt last month, down 437,000 mt from a month ago and 23.5% from a year ago.

Exports of steel products in January-June amounted to 34.4 million mt, down 2.6% year on year.

Imports of steel products shrank 37,000 mt month on month and 9.1% year on year to 945,000 mt in June.

This brought imports in January-June to 5.82 million mt, down 12.7% from the same period last year.