China’s run-of-mine iron ore output drops 1% y-o-y in Jan-Apr’26

• Hebei iron ore output records strong growth
• Chinese miners increase concentrate output amid supply growth

Mysteel Global: China’s run-of-mine (ROM) iron ore output totaled 326.8 million tonnes during January-April this year, falling by 1% from the same period last year, according to the latest statistics from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

While earlier NBS data showed that ROM iron ore output during the first three months had dropped by 1.2% on year, the decline recorded for the past four months narrowed thanks to improved production during the past month, Myteel Global notes.

In April alone, China produced 82.8 million tonnes of ROM iron ore, rising by 4% on month, though the volume was 3.5% lower on year, the official data show.

As air quality improved with clearing weather, domestic mines faced fewer environmental protection-related mining restrictions in April than in March, according to a Shanghai-based market watcher.  “This allowed most mines to ramp up iron ore production,” she said.

For example, ROM output in North China’s Hebei province, the country’s top iron and steel production hub, jumped 14.3% on month to 39 million tonnes last month, and that in Southeast China’s Sichuan province also rose 10.8% on month to approximately 9 million tonnes, the NBS data show.

However, ROM output in Northeast China’s Liaoning province plunged by 17.2% on month to 13 million tonnes, according to the same data.

Meanwhile, in view of growing ROM supply as a whole, miners also became more active in producing iron ore concentrates. Mysteel’s tracking of the 186 Chinese mining companies it monitors showed that their daily iron ore concs output averaged 472,600 tonnes/day during April 23-29, up 2.4% from a month earlier, the survey results show.

Regarding price, Mysteel assessed the offering price of 66% Fe grade domestic concentrates in Tangshan in Hebei province throughout April at Yuan 970/dmt ($141/dmt) on average EXW and including the 13% VAT. This was Yuan 6/dmt higher compared with the average of Yuan 964/dmt recorded during March.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.