In July this year, iron ore production in China came to 79.929 million mt, up 4.9 percent year on year, while down 9.04 month on month.
Import iron ore prices moved on a decreasing trend in July, with the highest level in the month at $221/mt CFR seen on July 6, while the lowest level during the month was observed at $180/mt CFR on July 30-31, while prices indicated a further sharp decrease in August amid the central government’s target to decrease crude steel output and also amid significant decreases in ferrous metal futures prices.
According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in the January-July period of the current year, China’s iron ore production amounted to 570.18 million mt, increasing by 14.5 percent year on year, 1.4 percentage points slower than the rise recorded in the first six months this year.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, iron ore imports in China decreased by 1.5 percent year on year to 649.025 million mt in the January-July period of the year, while in July alone China imported 88.506 million mt of iron ore, down 21.4 percent year on year.