As import of iron ore for the China They registered a light retreat in March compared to the previous month, reaching the lowest level in 20 months, challenging analysts’ expectations that monthly shipments would increase as interruptions in climate -induced supply.
The Asian country, which is the world’s largest consumer of iron ore, brought 93.97 million tons of the main ingredient of steel manufacturing last month, the lowest volume since July 2023, according to the data.
This represented a 0.25% drop from 94.21 million imported tons in February, when cyclones in Australia interrupted the supply, and a 6.7% drop from 100.72 million tons in the same month of 2024.
The March volume was also well below the predictions of analysts of more than 100 million tons.
“March imports have not achieved our expectations. The reason why March has not returned to normal level is probably related to the persistent impact of climate interruption in February,” said China Futures analyst China, headquartered in Shanghai.
Imports below expected last month led to a 2.6% drop in port stocks, while transoceanic iron ore prices rose 2.5%, according to consulting firm Steelhome.
“There must be cargo that have arrived but have not yet been released by customs and therefore have not been accounted for imports in March. As a result, we hope that imports from April will exceed 100 million tons,” said Steven Yu, senior analyst at Mysteel consultancy.
Imports of iron ore in the first quarter of 2025 fell 7.8% over the previous year to 285.31 million tons.
Analysts estimated imports of iron ore in April between 100 million and 106 million tons, with mining companies continuing to accelerate shipments to ensure that they reach their annual goals.
