In the January-March period this year, China imported 268.357 million mt of iron ore, down 5.2 percent year on year, as announced by the Chinese customs authorities on April 13.
In March alone, China imported 87.28 million mt of iron ore, down 14.5 percent year on year.
In the first three months, China imported 51.812 million mt of coal, down 24.2 percent year on year. In March alone, China imported 16.423 million mt of coal, down 39.9 percent year on year.
The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic since early March resulted in the lockdown of Shanghai and strict control measures in other regions of China, which have exerted a negative impact on the demand for iron ore imports.