- Output inches up in Sep as some miners restart operations
- Tight supply supports higher domestic concentrate prices
Mysteel Global: China’s run-of-mine (ROM) iron ore production in September rose by 0.6% y-o-y and by a larger 3.2% m-o-m to 84.3 million tonnes (mnt), according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), yet the total production of the feed material during January-September was 3.8% lower than the same period last year.
The m-o-m increase in September mainly resulted from rises in production among miners in North and East China after some had restarted operations from maintenance stoppages, market sources said.
For example, after decreasing for the previous two months, ROM output in Hebei province, China’s top iron ore producing hub in North China, advanced by 9% m-o-m in September to 37.3 mnt, the NBS data show. In Northeast China’s Liaoning province, China’s second-largest ore-producing province, the output was largely flat from August at 14.4 mnt.
However, the slight increase last month did not reverse the downtrend of China’s overall ROM iron ore production so far this year. The country produced 761.4 mnt of ROM iron ore during this year’s first nine months, 3.8% lower than the same period last year, though this drop narrowed slightly from the 4.2% y-o-y decline recorded in January-August, the NBS data show.
The general decline in ROM ore production was also reflected in the lower production of concentrates among Chinese miners. Iron ore concs output among the 433 Chinese mining companies under Mysteel’s tracking during January-September was 4% lower y-o-y, Mysteel’s data show.
As a result, the tightening supplies of concs continued to give miners and concentrating plants the confidence to lift their offering prices higher last month, particularly when hot metal production among steelmakers has stayed resilient.
For September, Mysteel assessed the monthly average price of 66% Fe grade iron ore concentrates in Tangshan in Hebei at RMB 999/dmt ($140/dmt) EXW and including the 13% VAT, RMB 29/dmt or 3% higher than August’s average.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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