China’s iron ore imports in May stayed above 100 million metric tons for a third straight month, customs data showed on Friday, thanks to the anticipation of higher demand after a slew of stimulus measures by Beijing to revive the property sector.
The world’s largest iron ore consumer brought in 102.03 million metric tons of the key steelmaking ingredient last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed, in line with analysts’ expectations of between 100 million and 105 million tons.
That compared with 101.82 million tons imported in April and 96.17 million tons in May 2023.
“Traders and steelmakers booked some seaborne cargoes arriving in May as the lower-than-expected hot metal output in March cemented beliefs of an increase in coming months,” said Chu Xinli, an analyst at China Futures.
Stimulus measures by Beijing since April to revive the country’s struggling property sector boosted sentiment and brightened demand prospects.
“A pick-up in demand in spring had kicked off a bit later this year, starting from April versus March in previous years, therefore it’s not a surprise to see imports in the past two months hovered high,” said Pei Hao, an analyst at International brokerage Freight Investor Services (FIS)
Persistent higher imports contributed to steep growth in portside inventories, which climbed to 145.5 million tons by the end of May, the highest since April 2022, data from consultancy Steelhome showed.
For the first five months of 2024, China’s iron ore imports totalled 513.75 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 7%, the data showed.
Iron ore imports in June will likely stay high as miners may need to ramp up shipments in May and June to achieve quarterly targets, said analysts.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
