According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in May of the current year China’s iron ore production amounted to 74.642 million mt, increasing by 8.1 percent year on year, 3.1 percentage points slower than the increase recorded in April of the year.
Import iron ore prices increased in May reaching the highest level in the given month at $100.8/mt on May 29 amid decent demand from steelmakers. Iron ore prices have moved up further in early June due to increasing blast furnace capacity utilization rates and outputs.
In the first five months of the year, China produced 336.967 million mt of iron ore, increasing by 4.1 percent year on year, 1.1 percentage points higher than the increase recorded in the first four months of the year.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, China imported 445.306 million mt of iron ore in the January-May period of this year, up 5.1 percent year on year.