[SMM brief Review] China's imports of 98.566 million tons of iron ore in April increased by 3.0% compared with the same period last year.

SMM5: according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, in April 2021, China imported 98.566 million tons of iron ore and its concentrate, an increase of 3.0 percent over the same period last year. From January to April, China imported 381.975 million tons of iron ore and its concentrate, an increase of 6.7 percent over the same period last year.

Iron ore imports in the first quarter of this year increased by 20.2426 million tons compared with the first quarter of last year, and the domestic market demand is still strong. SMM thinks iron ore imports fell slightly month-on-month in April. On the one hand, the volume of imported ore to Hong Kong tracked by SMM fell by 1.19 million tons to about 47.44 million tons in April from the previous month; in addition, due to the upside-down price of the US dollar index in the middle and first ten days of April, steel mills and traders reduced demand for US dollar goods, which turned to an increase in spot demand at the port, and imports are expected to decline from the previous month.