GACC: China's Oct iron ore imports retreat 3.8% MoM

After rising for two straight months, China's total iron ore imports retreated to 105.7 million tonnes in October, lower by 3.8% from September and by 5.1% compared with the year-ago level, the latest statistics released by the country's General Administration of Customs (GACC) published on Tuesday show.

The decline was mainly driven by subdued purchasing demand for iron ore among blast furnace (BF) steelmakers, as the mills continued to rein in production amid persistent operation losses through October, Mysteel Global noted. Total hot metal production among the 247 domestic blast furnace (BF) mills under Mysteel's tracking averaged