News: RIO UPDATE 1-China Oct iron ore imports fall on thinning margins, wider steel production cuts

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BEIJING, Nov 7 (Reuters) - China's iron ore imports in October fell 1.8% from September, customs data showed on Tuesday, as narrowing steel margins, wider production cuts among steelmakers and high prices curbed buyers' appetites.

The world's top iron ore consumer brought in 99.39 million metric tons of the key steelmaking ingredient last month, down from 101.18 million tons imported in September, data from the country's General Administration of Customs showed.

The decline came as less than one-fifth of Chinese steel mills surveyed were operating at a profit by end-October, down from around one-third in late September, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.

The capacity utilization rate among blast-furnace-based mills surveyed also dipped to 90.73% as of Oct. 27, down from 93.08% on Sept. 29, according to Mysteel data.

Still, the iron ore import volumes for October rose 4.6% from the same month a year earlier.

China's iron ore imports in the first ten months of 2023 posted a year-on-year rise of 6.5% to 975.84 million tons, the customs data also showed.

China's exports of steel products in October rose 53.3% from the prior year to 7.94 million tons, but fell 1.5% from 8.06 million tons shipped abroad in September, customs data showed.

Total steel exports in the world's largest steel producer totalled 74.73 million tons from January to October, a 34.8% year-on-year increase.

China imported 668,000 tons of steel products last month, down from 770,000 tons in October 2022, with the total over January-October period at 6.37 million tons, a fall of 30.1% from a year before, according to customs.