According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in August of the current year China’s iron ore production amounted to 76.999 million mt, increasing by 4.8 percent year on year, 4.8 percentage points faster than in July this year.
Import iron ore prices rose to their highest level in the given month of $129/mt CFR on August 19 amid good demand from steelmakers. They later fluctuated within a limited range after hitting this peak level. In September, import iron ore prices moved up further, reaching $130/mt CFR on September 3 and September 14, though they have started to move down recently.
In the first eight months of the current year, China produced 562.179 million mt of iron ore, up by 3.5 percent year on year, 0.1 percentage point slower than in the first seven months of this year.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, in the January-August period this year iron ore imports in China increased by 11.0 percent year on year to 759.915 million mt, with this year-on-year rise 0.8 percentage points slower than that recorded in the first seven months of the year.