China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) secretary general Shan Shanghua has stated that the CISA has established an investigation team in order to determine the truth regarding the iron ore import situation at China's ports.
According to the figures released by China's General Administration of Customs, iron ore imports hit another record monthly high in April, totaling 57 million mt and recording year-on-year growth for a fourth consecutive month. China's total iron ore imports in the January-April period reached 188.46 million mt, up 34.92 million mt or 22.9 percent year on year.
Mr. Shan said that, against the background of the major production cuts implemented by the various large-scale mills, it is not possible for domestic iron ore importers to have imported such a large amount of iron ore. Instead, Mr. Shan said, the significant increase in iron ore imports has mainly been due to shipments to China carried out by the global mining giants without having found buyers.
The CISA secretary general also commented that such a large import volume would give a falsely positive impression of the iron ore demand situation, which would be detrimental in the context of the international iron ore price talks.