China’s seaborne imports of iron ore are likely to have edged higher in May, helping to address the problem Beijing faces in trying to control rising prices in an environment of strong demand for the steel-making ingredient.
About 89.8 million tonnes of iron ore was discharged at Chinese ports in May, according to preliminary figures compiled by Refinitiv from vessel-tracking and port data. The final May figure may be higher given some cargoes may still be assessed as having been offloaded in the month.
This was up slightly from the 87.46 million tonnes imported via ships in April, according to the Refinitiv data.
It’s also worth noting that the seaborne tracking figures don’t align perfectly with official customs data given differences in when cargoes are assessed as having been discharged, and that the official numbers include iron ore transported overland from neighbouring countries.
Nonetheless, it seems likely that China’s robust appetite for iron ore continued in May as the world’s second-biggest economy rebounds from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, assisted by stimulus measures that have boosted steel-intensive industries such as construction, infrastructure and manufacturing.
The problem for Beijing authorities is that iron ore prices have remained at historically high levels despite the official efforts to take some of the heat out of the market.
The price of benchmark spot 62% iron ore for delivery to north China MT-IO-QIN62=ARG, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, has recovered in recent sessions, ending Monday at $199.50 a tonne.
This was up from the recent low of $188.55 a tonne, reached on May 27 after several moves by the authorities to lower prices, including raising the costs of trading on China’s domestic exchanges, and threats of price-control measures and more market oversight.
The official measures did enjoy some initial success in lowering prices, with spot iron ore retreating from an all-time high of $235.55 a tonne, reached on May 12.
But while a 15.3% decline from the record high may look impressive, it pales in comparison to the almost threefold gain from the 2020 low of $79.60 a tonne, reached in March of that year at the height of the lockdowns across much of China as the government battled to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Source : https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com