According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in the January-February period of the current year, China’s iron ore production amounted to 129.292 million mt, increasing by 10.30 percent year on year.
Import iron ore prices fluctuated within a limited range in the early part of January, while they moved down sharply ahead of the long Chinese New Year holiday due to slack demand. Following the long holiday, market sentiments improved a lot amid better expectations for the steel market, exerting a positive impact on import iron ore prices, which rose to their highest level in the given month at $176/mt CFR on February 26.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, iron ore imports in China increased by 2.8 percent year on year to 181.506 million mt in the January-February period of this year.