China January-February iron-ore imports hit by Australia weather-related disruptions
BEIJING - China's iron-ore imports in the first two months of 2025 fell by 8.4% from the same period a year earlier, curbed by weather-related supply disruption in major producer Australia.
The world's largest iron ore consumer brought in 191.36-million metric tons of the key steelmaking ingredient during January and February, customs data showed on Friday.
The number works out to a monthly average of 95.68-million tons. That compared to 112.49-million tons in December and a monthly average of 103.2-million tons in 2024.
China combines import data for January and February to smooth out the impact of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, the timing for which changes each year.
The annual fall is largely because of weather-related supply disruption in major supplier Australia, said analyst Shan Peng at trading company China Base Ningbo Group.
"But the total volumes are around 10-million tons higher than our earlier forecast, probably because miners stepped up shipments after the cyclone effect retreated," Shan added.
A survey from Reuters in February showed that analysts expected to see an annual slump of at least 10% for January and February.
Operations at Western Australia's major iron ore hubs - Port Hedland and the Dampier - had been suspended due to cyclone Zelia, the most severe cyclone since April 2023.
Rio Tinto RIO.AX, the world's largest iron ore producer, expects a loss of 13 million tons of iron-ore from cyclones that have hit Australia's west coast and disrupted iron ore shipments this year.
China's iron ore imports in March will likely top 100-million tons as miners ramped up shipments to achieve quarterly and annual targets after cyclones disrupted shipments in the prior two months, analysts said.
China's steel exports over January-February rose 6.7% from the year earlier to 16.97-million tons, the customs data showed.
Steel imports in the first two months fell 7.2% year-on-year to 1.05 million tons.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest News
Showroom
Weir is a global leader in mining technology. We recognise that our planet’s future depends on the transition to renewable energy, and that...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Weir is a global leader in mining technology. We recognise that our planet’s future depends on the transition to renewable energy, and that...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
