In April this year, China imported 47 million mt of iron ore from Australia, up 45.8 percent year on year, accounting for 56.4 percent of China's total iron ore import volume of 83.39 million mt during the given month, as announced by the Chinese customs authorities. In the January-April period of the current year, China imported 165.2 million mt of iron ore from Australia, up 35 percent, while its iron ore imports from Brazil totaled 55.70 million mt during the given period, up 10 percent, both year on year.
Meanwhile, according to the Chinese customs authorities, China imported 298,948 mt of nickel ore from Indonesia in April this year, down around 90 percent from the volume of 3 million mt of nickel ore imported from Indonesia in the same month last year. Indonesia, the world's leading supplier of high-grade nickel ore, announced a ban on unprocessed ores in January this year.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, Indonesia, the world's leading supplier of high-grade nickel ore, announced a ban on unprocessed ores in January this year.