- 11MCY’25 ROM output drops 2.8% y-o-y
- Concentrate prices soften despite low supply
Mysteel Global: China’s run-of-mine (ROM) iron ore production during January-November totalled 923.6 million tonnes, 2.8% lower than during the same period last year, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
For November alone, ROM iron ore output rose by 3.7% on year to reach some 83 million tonnes, but the volume was 1.2% lower from October, the NBS data showed.
ROM iron ore output last month in North China’s Hebei province, China’s top iron ore producing hub, dropped by 1.1% on month to 37.4 million tonnes, the NBS data show.
The decline was also observed in North China’s Shanxi province, where ROM ore output fell by a larger 5.7% on month to 3.3 million tonnes. In contrast, Northeast China’s Liaoning province saw its ROM iron ore production rise by 9.7% on month in November to 14.4 million, the official data indicate.
China’s tight ROM ore supply persisted last month as output remained low, causing concentrates production among domestic miners to decline in tandem. Mysteel’s tracking of 433 Chinese mining companies showed that their total concs output in November dipped by 129,000 tonnes or 0.6% from October to 22.8 million tonnes – a nine-month low.
On the other hand, Chinese blast-furnace mills also reduced their consumption of domestically-produced concs last month, as many mills cut hot metal production in response to poor profit margins and weak steel demand.
The daily usage of domestic concs by the 114 steel mills nationwide under Mysteel’s tracking averaged 162,200 tonnes/day during the last week of November, down by 4.3% on month.
Notably, the tight supply of domestic concs over July-October had driven up prices but since last month, the lackluster demand for the feeds from steelmakers has outweighed the reduced availability to cause concs prices to soften.
On December 18, Mysteel assessed the price of 66% Fe grade iron ore concentrates in Tangshan in Hebei at Yuan 974/dmt ($138.3/dmt) EXW and including the 13% VAT, Yuan 49/dmt lower than at the start of November.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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