BEIJING, Dec 10 (Reuters) - China's iron ore imports in November fell 1.91% from October, customs data showed on Tuesday, as shipments slowed ahead of the slow season for steel demand when colder weather disrupts construction work in the country's north.
The world's largest iron ore consumer imported 101.86 million metric tons of the steelmaking ingredient last month, data from the country's General Administration of Customs showed.
This was down from 103.84 million tons in October and lower than the 102.74 million tons in November 2023.
"The trend is in line with our expectations as pressure on miners to lift shipments to achieve annual targets has eased after a wave of high shipments earlier this year," said Pei Hao, an analyst at international brokerage Freight Investor Services (FIS).
"Ore demand did pick up last month, but that was mainly reflected in the drawdown in portside inventory." Portside stocks fell 0.4% during November to stand at 148.5 million tons late in the month, data from consultancy Steelhome showed.
December imports will likely rise as some miners ramp up shipments to meet annual targets, said Jiang Mengtian, an analyst at consultancy Horizon Insights.
In the first 11 months of 2024, China's iron ore imports climbed 4.3% from the year before to 1.124 billion tons, the data showed.
STEEL TRADE
China's steel exports in November rose 15.9% from a year earlier to 9.28 million tons, but decreased 17% from a nine-year high of 11.18 million tons in October.
Exports in the first 11 months of 2024 jumped 22.6% compared to the same period of 2023, to 101.15 million tons, and were 12% higher than the total of 90.26 million tons for all of last year.
"November steel exports remained high as rush shipments continued due to concerns over tariffs imposed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump," said Horizon Insights' Jiang.
"We expect total steel exports this year to surpass the record high set in 2015."
China imported 473,000 tons of steel products last month, down 11.8% from October and 22.5% lower year-on-year, with the January-November total at 6.19 million tons, a drop of 11.3% year-on-year.