Chinese Iron Ore and Soyabean Imports Climb, Coal Imports Drop

Coal, Grain, Iron Ore

Preliminary trade data reveal that Chinese iron ore imports climbed 14.7 Mt annually in December to 101.3 Mt, the second-highest level on record. At 284.8 Mt, imports in the 4q19 were up 23.5 Mt on the corresponding quarter in 2018. Meanwhile, China’s December soyabean imports rose 3.8 Mt yearly to a 19-month high of 9.5 Mt. Imports in 2019 were up just 0.5 Mt on the 2018 total at 88.5 Mt.

By contrast, Chinese coal imports fell 7.5 Mt year-on-year in December to 2.8 Mt. Imports in 2019 totalled just below 300.0 Mt, up 19.1 Mt on 2018.