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China's iron ore import hit 6-month low

Reuters reported that the Chinese spot iron ore prices have dropped recently due to weak demand for steel products and falling steel prices.

According to statistics, China imported 57.69 million tons of iron ore in April, the lowest level over the past six months. The keep falling steel prices have led steel mills away from the iron ore market; therefore they have turned to seek for the alternative domestic material or purchase from old stockiest.

Ms. Judy Zhu, the commodity analyst at Standard Chartered in Shanghai said that the recovery of raw material demand in China was still in a very soft and slow pace although there was an improvement last month.

Based on the data provided by Umetal, the import prices of iron ore offered by Australia, Brazil and India fell by US$1/ton on Thursday.

However, most of the mills are still not interested to buy, even the mills with less inventory.