China imported 91.2 million tonnes of iron ore for the month of July 2022, up 2.6% on the previous month according to data released by the country’s General Administration of Customs.
Total spend for the metal was down 4% to over $11.5 billion US dollars on softening prices.
July also saw a decline in spend of just over 35.6% from the previous year, despite volume rising by 3.1%.
Copper ore and concentrates
Chinese imports of copper ore and concentrates decined by 7.8% in July to 1.9 million tonnes, with spend also declining by just over 13%.
Year-on-year volume for the base metal was relatively flat, up by just 0.6%, despite spend decreasing by 7.3%.
Coal and lignite
July coal and lignite imports increased by nearly 24% from June to 23.5 million tonnes, with spend also increasing by 24.4%.
Year-on-year figures saw a 22% drop in tonnage despite spend increasing by nearly 30% compared to July 2021.
Rare Earths
Rare earth imports declined by 10.9% month-on-month during July, with spend increasing by 22.2%.
Australian exports to China
Total Australian exports to China amounted to 14 billion US dollars in July, representing a trade surplus of just over 6.8 billion dollars.
The figure increased from 12.5 billion dollars in June, despite representing an 8% year-on-year decline from July 2021.
