According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in the January-April period this year, China’s iron ore production amounted to 330.794 million mt, decreasing by 0.9 percent year on year.
In April alone, China’s iron ore production reached 85.794 million mt, decreasing by 4.5 percent year on year.
Import iron ore prices moved on an overall downtrend in April, with the highest level of $160/mt CFR being seen during April 1-6, while the lowest level of $136/mt CFR has been seen on April 25 due to the sharp declines seen in iron ore futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange. The shrinking profitability on steelmakers’ side resulted in the slack demand for import iron ore, which exerted a negative impact on its prices.