New official data from China is reportedly revealing that iron ore imports in the country have been up this year through October, and in that month alone jumped 4.48% year-over-year on rises in steel margins.
According to a Reuters report citing official data, China’s October iron ore imports rose 4.48%, down 0.28% m/m, and imports between January and October were up 4.9% y/y.
Additionally, steel exports in the first ten months of 2024 have been up 23.3% over the same period in 2023, and steel imports from January to October fell 10.1% period-over-period.
The improvements, per the Reuters story, are due to Beijing’s massive economic stimulus package spurring more buying.
China, which is the world’s largest iron ore consumer, brought in 103.84 million metric tons of the steelmaking ingredient last month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.
The figure takes the number of months so far this year when volumes exceeded 100 million tons to eight. It compares to 104.13 million tons in September and 99.39 million tons in October 2023.
“Ore demand picked up last month as hot metal output ramped up driven by drastically improved steel margins, contributing to the relatively high imports,” said Zhuo Guiqiu, an analyst at Jinrui Futures, to the news service.
Additionally, per Mysteel data, the average daily hot metal output in October was 4.1% higher than in September, while around two-thirds of Chinese steelmakers surveyed were operating at a profit in late October, versus less than a fifth at the end of September.
“The imports in October are a bit higher than our expectations. Relatively low prices and an appreciating yuan might act as the tailwinds,” said Cai Yongzheng, a Nanjing-based director of Jiangsu Fushi Data Research Institute, to Reuters.
In the first 10 months of 2024, China’s iron ore imports totaled 1.023 billion tons, a year-on-year rise of 4.9%, the data showed.
Source: Reuters