In the January-September period this year, China imported 822.542 million mt of iron ore, down 2.3 percent year on year, as announced by the Chinese customs authorities on October 24.
In September alone, China imported 99.71 million mt of iron ore, up 4.3 percent year on year, while rising by 3.64 percent month on month.
In September, iron ore prices moved up first but softened as of September 13 against the backdrop of the fluctuations seen in iron ore futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE). Following the long National Day holiday (October 1-7), iron ore prices started to move up, but declined later amid the weak performance in the steel market.