2 minutes, by A guy passes through an iron ore blending plant at Dalian Port in Liaoning Province, China. The date is September 21, 2018. BEIJING (Reuters) – REUTERS/Muyu XuBEIJING (Reuters) – Official customs data revealed on Tuesday that China’s iron ore imports fell for the third month in a row in June, to their lowest level in 13 months, as arrivals of the crucial steelmaking ingredient fell short of market forecasts. According to figures from the General Administration, the world’s top iron ore consumer imported 89.42 million tonnes of the material in June, down 0.4 percent from May. Imports of iron ore were down 12.1 percent from a year ago in June. According to customs data, China took 560.7 million tonnes of the chemical in the first half of 2021, up 2.6 percent from the same period the previous year. For the first half of the year, China’s iron ore demand was fueled by robust steel production and mill profitability, propelling prices for the raw material to all-time highs. During the months of January through June, the value of imported iron ore increased by 71.7 percent on an annual basis. Before the data was revealed, Wood Mackenzie’s Rohan Kendall, head of iron ore research, stated, “As we enter the second half of the year, all eyes will be on the extent to which Chinese demand slows and Brazilian supply expands.” Wood Mackenzie has reduced their iron ore pricing projection for the third quarter to $185 per tonne CFR, down from $200 in the second quarter. China’s steel product exports increased 22.5 percent to 6.46 million tonnes in June, according to customs statistics released on Tuesday, while imports up 2.5 percent to 1.25 million tonnes. According to customs data, China exported 37.38 million tonnes of steel in the first half of the year and imported 7.35 million tonnes from abroad markets. Min Zhang and Shivani Singh contributed reporting, while Muralikumar Anantharaman edited the piece./n
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