Iron ore futures rose slightly on Monday, despite China’s economic data showing a dip in iron ore imports during August.
The most-traded iron ore for January 2021 delivery on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange inched up slightly by 0.29% day-on-day to RMB 851.50 per tonne after a late rebound session following the selloff at day opening.
Then, the steel rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped slightly by 0.59% day-on-day to RMB 3,736 per tonne.
Lower Chinese iron ore imports in August
The pullback of futures was partly attributed to the lower Chinese iron ore during the month of August at 100.36 million mt, down 10.9% month-on-month, according to the country’s General Administration of Customs.
Port congestion was one of the factors for the lower iron ore imports as custom clearance was made stricter in view of the coronavirus-related restrictions.
Moreover, there was a noticeable dip in Australian exports after major Australia-based miners closed their account books toward the end of financial year in Australia during the Jun-Jul period.
China becomes net steel importer again
The custom’s data also showed that China becomes a net steel importer again due to the robust domestic steel demand that consumed most of its steel production.
According to the country’s General Administration of Customs, the steel exports were recorded at 36.6 million mt for the Jan-Aug period, down 18.6% year-on-year.
The low steel exports were due to booming construction activities especially over the traditional peak season of the Sep-Oct period.
On the contrary, China iron imports kept rising with total volumes at 759.91 million tonnes for the Jan-Aug 2020 period, up 11% on yearly basis.