Monday, April 11,
China’s March iron ore imports rebounded strongly from the month of February, but fell or held flat on a year-on-year basis, fuelling market concern that Beijing’s tightening steps are taming demand growth.*
Iron ore imports rose 22% from the previous month to 59.48 million tonnes, reversing a 29-percent fall in February, as steel mills cranked up production after a Lunar New Year break. But on a year-on-year basis, March purchases were up only by 0.8%
Meanwhile, iron ore shipments from India to China have slowed heavily in March. According to Chinese trade data for March, iron ore shipments from India were 9.9 million tonnes i.e. down from 10.7 million tonnes in February.
Shipments from Orissa were down sharply at just 972,000 tonnes compared. However, Goa shipments were up to 7.2 million tonnes from 6.8 million tonnes in February.
Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that the Karnataka ban on iron ore exports will have to be lifted from April 20. But according to experts, “The rolling off of this ban will not make a significant difference to the demand/supply for iron ore in the near term as Government has already hiked export tax to 20%. So, the lifting of ban can act as a balancing effect and may not impact the spot prices in the short term”
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