In the first five months of the current year, total mineral imports reached 2.23 million mt at Erlian port in the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, rising by 80.2 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last year, according to the port authorities. Meanwhile, the aggregate value of these imports came to $820 million, up 45.3 percent year on year.
The mineral imports in question mainly consisted of copper powder, iron ore, crude oil and lubricant base oil.