China’s pellet imports witnessed a sharp decline of 71% in Sept’21 to 1.57 million tonnes (mn t) as against 5.37 mn t in Sept’20. Imports from India saw a y-o-y and m-o-m fall.
Imports of the material decreased 24% m-o-m to 1.57 mn t in Sept’21 against 2.07 mn t recorded in Aug’21, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.
Reasons for the fall in imports
- The decrease in imports was due to tight pellets supply and sintering restrictions in China. As a consequence, almost all the reduction in sinter usage was counter-balanced by the rise in lump usage since September.
- There was higher preference for domestic iron ore pellets in.
Imports from India fall
India continued to be the largest iron ore pellets exporter to China in Sept’21 but showed a fall of 58% m-o-m at 0.35 mn t against 0.83 mn t in Aug’21, Higher realisations in the domestic market limited pellet export bookings from India.
India’s pellet exports to China fell 60% y-o-y from 0.88 mn t in Sept’20 to 0.35 mn t in Sept’21.
SteelMint’s pellet export index (Fe 64%, 3% Al, FoB east coast) fell from $140/tonne (t) assessed towards the end of August to $100/t by end of Sept’21. With prices in exports falling sharply, Indian pellet makers turned aggressive in domestic sales.
On the other hand, SteelMint’s bi-weekly pellet (6-20mm, Fe 63%) index for the key central Indian market of Raipur, PELLEX, witnessed total transactions of 164,500 t in Sept’21 compared to 125,000 t in Jun — an increase of over 32% m-o-m , as per data compiled by SteelMint.
Imports from Ukraine rise: Ukraine was the second-largest pellets exporting country for China in Sept’21 with 0.31 mn t as against 0.14 mn t in the previous month.
Imports drop 52% in Jan-Sept’21
Total imports of iron ore pellets dropped 52% y-o-y to 18.33 mn t in Jan-Sept’21 against 38.21 mn t recorded in the corresponding period last year (CPLY).
Imports from India fell by 37% to 6.58 mn t during Jan-Sept’21 as against 10.51 mn t in CPLY. Bid-offer disparities and comparatively better realisations in the domestic market resulted in a fall in volumes from India.
China’s pellet imports in Sept’21 & Aug’21
Fig in mn t
Source: SteelMint
Leave a Reply