NBS: China Jan-Apr ROM iron ore output dips 0.9% on year
For April alone, China's ROM iron ore output declined by 4.5% on year to reach 85.8 million tonnes, or down more substantially by 9.5% on month, NBS' data showed.
Some major ROM production hubs in China posted on-month decreases in April too, with output from North China's Hebei easing by 7.6% on month to 38.3 million tonnes, and the volume from Sichuan in Southwest China fell by 11.9% on month to 8.7 million tonnes.
"Apart from the frequent disruptions on miners' production in the first three months, many mining companies in Northeast, North and East China had been constantly forced to reduce or even suspend their production due to the COVID-19 outbreaks," a Shanghai-based market watcher explained.
Accordingly, the capacity utilization rate of domestic iron ore concentrates at 186 Chinese mining companies under Mysteel's survey was 4.35 percentage points lower on year at 49.1% as of April 21.
Over January-March, miners in Northeast, North and East China had observed a series of bans on distribution and their use of explosives due to the country's hosting of major events in and around Beijing, such as the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and the convening of the Two Sessions political meetings, as reported.
Nevertheless, the on-year decline of raw ore output over January-April was not that substantial considering the constraints in miners' production, as "mining companies were inclined to resume their production once they were freed from those restrictions to maximize their profits from selling ROM when prices hovered high," she said.
Also, with the gradual relaxation in COVID-induced lockdown in Tangshan in North China's Hebei since mid-April, local mining companies had ramped up their operations immediately, according to her.
The offering price of 66% Fe grade domestic iron ore concentrates in Tangshan had stayed above Yuan 1,000/dmt ($148.1/dmt) EXW and including the 13% VAT throughout January-April, and averaged high at Yuan 1,249.8/dmt EXW and including the 13% VAT for April, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Written by Lea Li, liye@mysteel.com
Edited by Zhenqi Yang, yangzhenqi@mysteel.com
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