News: RIO UPDATE 1-China's iron ore imports rise in July despite pollution controls

• July iron ore imports were 89.96 mln tonnes
• Supported by record output in July
• Profit margins at mills reach around 1,100 yuan a tonne
• Tightened pollution curbs may crimp iron ore demand

(Updates throughout)

BEIJING, Aug 8 (Reuters) - China's iron ore imports rebounded in July from June, customs data showed on Wednesday, buoyed by record steel production and strong margins as official measures to reduce pollution curb the output of cheaper products from small mills.

The world's top iron ore importer bought 89.96 million tonnes of the mineral last month, according to the General Administration of Customs, up from June's 83.24 million tonnes and 88.66 million tonnes in July last year.

Shipments for the first seven months of this year fell 0.7 percent from a year ago to 620.65 million tonnes, the customs data showed.

China, the world's leading steelmaker, churned out a record 80.2 million tonnes of crude steel last month, just shy of the 81.6 million tonnes the United States produced in whole of 2017.

Profit margins at Chinese steel mills have reached near- record levels around 1,100 yuan ($161.24) a tonne in December, supported by ongoing capacity cutting and environmental crackdowns that curtail small mills' output.

But stricter environmental controls have cut into restocking demand for iron ore fines, which need to go through a high-polluting sintering process before being used in iron-making blast furnaces at steel mills. Sintering processes are the prime target of anti-pollution campaigns.

Weekly utilisation rates at steel mills' blast furnaces across the country slipped last week to 66.99 percent, the lowest since mid-April, according to the Mysteel consultancy.

The steelmaking cities of Tangshan, Handan and Xingtai in Hebei province have enacted summer production restrictions to reduce harmful emissions, in addition to planned output curbs during winter.

Last week, Beijing unveiled a draft plan to be enacted in 28 northern cities in winter, asking steel mills to cut capacity by as much as 50 percent.

Vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodity Forecasts suggests China will import about 70.19 million tonnes of seaborne iron ore in August.

Imports of steel products fell 1.3 percent to 1.03 million tonnes, customs data showed. The country bought 7.7 million tonnes of steel products in the first seven months of 2018, which was down 1.1 percent from a year ago.

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($1 = 6.8223 Chinese yuan renminbi)