- Increased maintenance stoppages lead to drop
- Mills show lukewarm demand for concentrates
Mysteel Global: China’s run-of-mine (ROM) iron ore production during January-May this year totalled some 414.3 million tonnes (mnt), lower by a significant 10.1% compared with the same period last year, according to the latest data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
By region, the ROM output in North China’s Hebei province – the country’s top iron ore-producing hub – slumped by 23% y-o-y to 185.6 mnt in the first five months, while Northeast China’s Liaoning province followed with a production of 73.1 mnt, dipping 1.6% y-o-y, NBS data show.
In May alone, China mined out 85.8 mnt of ROM ore, down by 3% y-o-y, and the daily average output was lower by 2% from the previous month at 2.76 mnt/day, according to the official data.
Increased maintenance stoppages among domestic mining companies mainly led to the decline in iron ore output last month, subsequently resulting in lower production of concentrates.
Mysteel’s survey showed that the total quantity of iron ore concs produced by the 332 domestic mining enterprises under its regular tracking registered 22.5 mnt during May, lower by 5.5% compared with the same month last year.
Chinese steelmakers’ demand for domestic iron ore concs remained lukewarm due to its weak cost effectiveness, and mills were persistently trying to press domestic concs suppliers to reduce selling prices in the past month, Mysteel’s other survey showed.
For this month, the sliding prices of domestic concs are likely to continue to dampen miners’ production enthusiasm, potentially causing a further decline in the ROM ore output, Mysteel’s survey suggests.
By 18 June, offers for 66% Fe grade iron ore concs in Tangshan city, Hebei province, were assessed by Mysteel at RMB 889/dmt ($123.7/dmt), including 13% VAT, the lowest since late November 2022.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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