Iron ore imports up 48% in january, freight costs drop! can you hear the cash register? i can!
Higher steel production and higher prices, coupled with lower freight costs and a stronger yuan, boosted iron ore demand, Bloomberg quoted Helen Lau, a Hong Kong-based analyst at UOB Kay Hian Ltd, as saying.
BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese iron ore imports surged 48 percent to a record in January, compared with a year ago, as traders replenished stocks in expectation of rising ore prices. Imports climbed to 68.97 million tons in January, up 18.8 percent from 58.08 million tons in December, according to the General Administration of Customs on Monday.
The previous record for iron ore imports was 64.55 million tons in September 2009.
"Chinese steel mills and traders bolstered iron ore inventories because they expect ore prices will further go up due to rising steel prices, leading to a jump in iron ore imports," said Zhang Lin, a senior analyst with Beijing Lange Steel Information Center.
The average price of imported ore stood at $151 per ton in January, close to the record of $154.4 per ton set in August 2008, Zhang said.
Extreme weather in Australia and Brazil, coupled with rising inflation also drove up coal and iron ore prices. Coking coal and iron ore supplies from top exporter Australia have been disrupted by massive floods.
Steelmakers have ramped up production and raised metal prices for downstream industries. Steel production rose 2.6 percent to 51.5 million tons in December from a month earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
