China’s iron ore imports in May fell by 9pc to 89.79mn from 98.57mn mt in the preceding month, according to the official customs reports. From May 2020, however, imports were up by 3.2pc.
Iron ore imports have dropped for two successive months as supply from top producers in Australia and Brazil was adversely affected due to unfavorable weather.
Australia exported 57.8mn mt iron ore to China in May 2021, down by 7pc from 62.4mn mt in April, Brazil exported 14.9mn mt iron ore in May, down by 11pc from the preceding month. India, South Africa, Ukraine, and Canada were the other key exporters.
From May 2020, Australian exports to China dropped by 2pc from 59.13mn mt, while those by Brazil increased by 29pc.
China imported 471.77mn mt of iron ore in the first five months of the year, up 6pc from the prior-year period, the customs data showed.