BEIJING: China’s iron ore imports in September fell 4.9% from August, customs data showed on Friday, as declining steel margins and rising domestic supply curbed buying.

The world’s largest iron ore consumer brought in 101.18 million metric tons of the key steelmaking ingredient last month, down from 106.42 million tons imported in August, which was the highest since October 2020, data from the country’s General Administration of Customs showed.

However, volumes last month were up 1.47% from the same month a year before. Lower steel margins in September dented the buying interest for seaborne cargoes, said Pei Hao, a Shanghai-based analyst at international brokerage FIS.

Only about one-third of Chinese steel mills surveyed were operating at a profit by the end of September, down from one-half in late August, data from consultancy Mysteel showed. China’s iron ore imports in the first nine months of 2023 totalled 876.65 million tons, up 6.7% from the same period a year before, the customs data showed.

China’s exports of steel products in September jumped 61.8% from the prior year to 8.06 million tons, but was 2.66% lower than 8.28 million tons shipped in August, customs data showed.

The world’s largest steel producer shipped abroad a total of 66.82 million tons of steel products from January to September, a 31.8% year-on-year rise.

China imported 640,000 tons of steel products last month, down from 890,000 tons in September 2022, with the total over January-September period at 5.7 million tons, a drop of 31.7% from a year earlier, according to customs.