China's iron ore imports in October climbed by 4.48% from the prior year, official data showed on Thursday, as steelmakers' margins improved thanks to Beijing's massive economic stimulus package spurring more buying.
China, the world's largest iron ore consumer, brought in 103.84 million metric tons of the steelmaking ingredient last month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.
The figure takes the number of months so far this year when volumes exceeded 100 million tons to eight. It compares to 104.13 million tons in September and 99.39 million tons in October 2023.
China announced stimulus measures in late September to bolster its economy, and steelmakers' margins improved as steel prices rose.
"Ore demand picked up last month as hot metal output ramped up driven by drastically improved steel margins, contributing to the relatively high imports," said Zhuo Guiqiu, an analyst at Jinrui Futures.
The average daily hot metal output in October was 4.1% higher than in September, while around two-thirds of Chinese steelmakers surveyed were operating at a profit in late October, versus less than a fifth at end-September, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
Hot metal is a blast furnace product, typically used to gauge iron ore demand.
"The imports in October are a bit higher than our expectations. Relatively low prices and an appreciating yuan might act as the tailwinds," said Cai Yongzheng, a Nanjing-based director of Jiangsu Fushi Data Research Institute.
Persistent high imports contributed to a continued piling up of portside stocks of iron ore , which rose 1.2% last month, data from consultancy Steelhome showed.
In the first 10 months of 2024, China's iron ore imports totalled 1.023 billion tons, a year-on-year rise of 4.9%, the data showed.
STEEL TRADE
China's steel exports in October surged 40.81% from the year before and gained 10.15% from September to hit the highest for a single month since September 2015 at 11.18 million tons.
Exports in the first ten months of the year jumped 23.3% from the year before to 91.89 million tons, already higher than the total of 90.26 million tons in 2023 and on track to top 100 million tons for the year.
China imported 536,000 tons of steel products last month, down 3.25% from September and 19.76% lower than the prior year, with the January-October total at 5.72 million tons, a drop of 10.1% year-on-year.
