According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in December last year China’s iron ore production amounted to 75.177 million mt, decreasing by 5.13 percent month on month, but still up 0.7 percent year on year. In the month of December, import iron ore prices for China first increased but then declined, moving up from $87.5/mt CFR to $94.3/mt CFR, then dropping to $90.6/mt CFR, with the increase due to good demand amid stock replenishments ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday. The high levels of iron ore prices in 2019 resulted in rises in iron ore output in the given year.
In 2019, China produced 844.356 million mt of iron ore, rising by 4.9 percent year on year.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, China imported 1.0609 billion mt of iron ore in 2019, up 0.5 percent year on year.