China’s iron ore imports fell for the second straight month in November, dropping 8.1% from a month earlier on easing shipments from major exporters, official customs data showed on Monday.

China brought in 98.15 million tonnes of the key steelmaking ingredient last month, compared with 106.74 million tonnes of imports in October, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs. That was up 8.3% from November 2019.

“Shipments from Australia and Brazil were at relatively low levels in the last two months,” said Richard Lu, senior analyst with CRU in Beijing, adding that December shipments are normally higher though there is a need to monitor weather conditions.

Lu also noted that decent profits for steel products have supported steel mills’ demand for iron ore.

Average weekly capacity utilisation rates at 163 mills across the country were above 84.4% in November against 84.2% in October and 82.5% the same period last year, according to data compiled by Mysteel consultancy.

For the first 11 months of the year, iron ore imports stood at 1.07 billion tonnes, beating full-year imports of 1.06 billion tonnes in 2019, the customs data showed.

STEEL EXPORTS RECOVERY

Steel products exports from China last month were at 4.4 million tonnes, the customs data showed, up from 4 million tonnes in October.

Imports of steel products, meanwhile, further eased to 1.85 million tonnes in November from 1.93 million tonnes a month earlier.

China’s January-November steel exports totalled 48.8 million tonnes, down 18.1% from year earlier. Total imports surged 74.3% at 18.86 million tonnes, according to the customs.