Iron Ore Imports by China Advance 30% to a Record (Update1) Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Bloomberg News
Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Iron ore imports by China, the world’s largest buyer, jumped 30 percent to a record in September as traders and mills replenished depleted inventories.
Imports reached 64.6 million metric tons, the nation’s customs office said on its Web site today. This compares with 49.7 million tons in August and 58.1 million tons in July, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
China’s steel production jumped to a record in August, a fourth monthly gain, leading mills to deplete iron ore supplies. The nation now faces “severe oversupply” of steel and the government is working on plans to curb excess capacity, Wuhan Iron & Steel Group said yesterday.
“Iron ore imports have probably peaked this year” because falling steel prices will force mills to cut output and demand for the raw material, said Hu Kai, a Shanghai-based analyst at Umetal, an industry publication. The lower iron ore imports in August led to the surge in September, he said.
Steel prices in China have fallen 25 percent since reaching a 10-month high on Aug. 4. Prices aren’t likely to rebound for the rest of year because of oversupply, Wuhan Steel’s general manager Deng Qilin said yesterday.
Imports of copper and related products by China, the world’s largest consumer, climbed for the first time in three months, rising to 399,052 metric tons in September, the customs office said. That’s 23 percent more than August, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Real Demand
Iron ore imports rose 36 percent to 469.4 million tons for the first nine months from a year earlier, the customs office said today. Imports have exceeded real demand by 50 million tons, the China Iron & Steel Association said Oct. 12.
Recent gains in spot iron ore prices are “speculative,” Luo Bingsheng, vice chairman of the association, said in Beijing.
The cash price for Australian iron ore delivered to China has gained 13 percent since Sept. 10, and traded at $85.80 a ton yesterday, according to the Steel Index.
Steel product exports by China plunged 68 percent to 15.7 million tons in the January-September period from a year ago, the country’s customs also said. Last month, it exported 2.47 million tons.
China’s statistics bureau may announce September steel output figures Oct. 22.
To contact the reporter on this story: Helen Yuan in Shanghai at [email protected]
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