BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s iron ore imports in May missed expectations, dropping 4.9% from April, as mills exercised caution in buying seaborne cargoes in anticipation of seasonally slower steel consumption.
The world’s largest iron ore consumer brought in 98.13 million metric tons of the key steelmaking ingredient last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.
May’s volume, which missed analysts’ expectations of above 100 million tons, was down from 103.14 million tons in April and 102.03 million tons in May 2024.
Last month’s lower-than-expected imports were partly because some steelmakers preferred to procure cargoes from ports where supply was abundant and prices cheaper, according to steel mills and analysts.
Lower imports saw portside inventory drop 2.8% month-on-month to 133 million tons by May 30, the lowest since February 2024.
Also, some vessels cleared customs in advance due to the May Day holiday break, contributing to lower-than-expected imports in May and higher-than-expected imports in April, said Steven Yu, senior analyst at consultancy Mysteel.
“While May volume is lower than our expectations, it remained at a relatively high level thanks to restocking from mills amid falling portside inventory,” said Chu Xinli, an analyst at broker China Futures.
For the first five months of 2025, China’s iron ore imports declined 5.2% year-on-year to 486.41 million tons.
STEEL EXPORTS AT 7-MONTH HIGH
China’s exports of steel products in May climbed 1.15% from April and 9.87% from the year before to a seven-month high of 10.58 million tons, the third straight month that it has topped 10 million tons.
Analysts said sustained front-run shipments, fuelled by fears of tariff hikes denting demand, were boosting exports.
For the first five months of the year exports jumped 8.9% year-on-year to a record high for the period of 48.47 million tons.
China’s steel imports decreased 24.5% year-on-year to 481,000 tons last month, with the total in the first five months falling 16.1% from the year before to 2.55 million tons.
(Reporting by Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Kate Mayberry)
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