WEEKLY: China mines' iron ore concs output drops sharply

This week saw a sudden steep decline in iron ore concentrates production among China's domestic mining companies, and market sources mainly blamed it on the torrential rains in North China that impeded local mining and concentrating operations.

During July 25-31, the combined output of iron ore concs among the 186 mining and concentrating enterprises under Mysteel's regular tracking fell by a substantial 17,300 tonnes/day or 3.6% on week to 463,000 t/d, the lowest level since mid-February this year. The capacity utilization rate among these enterprises also dropped