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BEIJING, Aug 7 (Reuters) - China's iron ore imports jumped more than 5% in July from the prior month, customs data showed on Wednesday, due to a pick-up in June shipments among miners to meet quarterly targets.
The world's largest iron ore consumer brought in 102.81 million metric tons of the key steelmaking ingredient last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
That compared to 97.61 million tons in June and 93.48 million tons in July 2023.
"Some miners ramped up shipments in June to catch up with their quarterly targets, contributing to higher imports in July," said Jiang Mengtian, a Shanghai-based analyst at consultancy Horizon Insights ahead of the release.
The increase in July was slightly below analysts' expectations for a rise of between 103 million and 110 million tons. Analysts said that was because falling prices last month dampened some smaller suppliers' interest in shipping ore.
Iron ore shipments from India dropped by nearly 20% to around 2.77 million tons last month, data from LSEG showed.
Prices SH-CCN-IRNOR62 slipped 7% in July as demand wilted, with scorching heat and heavy rains hindering construction activity.
China's iron ore imports totaled 714 million tons in the first seven months of 2024, a year-on-year rise of 6.7%, the data showed.
