WEEKLY: China mills' import iron ore stocks rise slightly

Chinese steelmakers have consumed more imported iron ore lately as they gradually ramped up hot metal production in response to steel demand recovery. Especially, the faster consumption of imported sintering fines caused only a small increase in mills' stocks of the feed material in the past week despite their active purchasing, Mysteel's latest survey showed.

During March 26-April 1, the combined daily usage of imported iron ore sintering fines among the 64 Chinese blast-furnace (BF) steelmakers tracked by Mysteel increased by a notable 28,300 tonnes/day or 4.7% on week to average 625,000 t/d. This marked the highest consumption level since the beginning of this