Iron ore imports soar in Guangdong

Iron ore imports soar in Guangdong

Recent data show that iron ore imports at China’s Guangdong port totaled 2.95 million tons during the first two months of 2005, a 52.9% rise year-on-year. The imports carried a trade value of $250 million, up 36.5% year-on-year. Imports in February alone reached 1.842 million tons, the highest monthly import quantity in recent years. Import prices also enjoyed a strong comeback in February. Iron ore import prices initially embarked on a downward trend after the implementation of several macro control policies in April 2004. In August 2004, the average iron ore import price was $54.9/ton. However, market demand drove prices to $75.4/ton in November 2004. By February 2005, the iron ore import price at Guangzhou reached as high as $88.2/ton. India and Brazil are the major iron ore exporters to Guangdong. At 958’000 tons, iron ore from India accounted for 32.5% of total imports through the first two months of 2005. However, tonnage from India was down 22.9% year-on–year. Brazilian imports, which made up 29.1% of the total, surged over 11-fold year-on-year to 859’000 tons thousand tons Moreover, iron ore imports from South Africa doubled to 398’000 tons, while Australian imports increased nearly four-fold to 309’000 tons.