China reduced iron ore production by 0.5% in January-November 2022

Iron ore production in China in January-November 2022 decreased by 0.5% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 889 million tons. Steel Orbis reports about it with the reference to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS).

In November, iron ore production increased by 0.6% compared to November 2021 – up to 76.53 million tons. Compared to October 2022, production increased by 9.4%.

Ahead of Chinese New Year, market participants believe that steel producers need to build up iron ore inventories, which is likely to push up iron ore prices.

As GMK Center reported earlier, iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange on December 16-23, 2022, became cheaper by 2.05% compared to the previous week – to 825 yuan/t ($118.18/t). Thus, the quotations fell slightly after seven weeks of growth. January iron ore futures on the Singapore Exchange increased by 0.8% compared to the price as of December 16, 2022, – up to $110.75/t. Iron ore prices eased slightly amid investor uncertainty over China’s zero-policy policy to control the coronavirus. The spread of disease outbreaks could hamper the recovery of the world’s second-largest economy.

Also, Fitch Ratings confirmed the predictions regarding iron ore prices for the current, 2023 and 2024 years. The world demand for steel continues to slow down, but the steel market is not overcrowded – the decrease in supplies from Ukraine and the Russian Federation is compensated by the drop in demand in Europe and other regions. It is predicted that by the end of 2022, the price of iron ore will be $115/t, in 2023 – $85/t, and in 2024 – $75/t.