Chinese Iron Ore, Scrap, Flat Rolled Data through April

Chinese imports of iron ore in April totaled 80,770,000 metric tons, a decrease of 6.5 percent from the previous month, and a decrease of 2.6 percent from April 2018. China’s total iron ore imports for the first four months of 2019 were 340,210,000 metric tons. The same period in 2018 was slightly higher at 353,400,000 tons.

Chinese imports of steel scrap in April totaled 20,000 metric tons, down 20.0 percent over March, and down 83.3 percent over the same month one year ago. Steel scrap imports into China in the first four months of 2019 totaled 90,000 metric tons, down significantly compared to the 580,000 tons imported in the same time frame in 2018.

Flat rolled imports to China in April were 850,000 metric tons, up 14.4 percent over the dip in the previous month, but down 2.3 percent over April 2018 figures. Total 2019 imports year to date were adjusted to 3,300,000 metric tons. The same period in 2018 was slightly higher at 3,820,000 tons.

Chinese exports of flat rolled steel totaled 3,880,000 metric tons for April, up 3.0 percent from March, and up 3.5 percent from April 2018. China’s flat rolled exports year to date through April totaled 14,070,000 metric tons, up from 12,360,000 tons through the first four months of 2018. (Source: Bradford Research, Inc. & China Customs Service)

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