China's weekly iron ore concentrate output drops as more mines halt operations

• Mine-side inventories continue to accumulate gradually
  
  
• Environmental curbs limit operations in Central China
  
  

Mysteel Global: Production of iron ore concentrates among Chinese mining companies continued to slow during the past week as more domestic mines halted operations to conduct maintenance, Mysteel's latest survey showed.

During December 19-25, the combined output of iron ore concentrates among the 186 mining and concentrating enterprises under Mysteel's tracking fell for the third straight week by a marked 14,000 tonnes/day or 3.1% on week to average 433,900 t/d, touching the lowest level since February.

During the same period, the average capacity utilisation rate of these companies also dropped by 1.8 percentage points on week to 55.5%, the survey findings showed.

The decline in total concentrates output was observed mainly in East and Central China, Mysteel Global noted. For example, concentrates production by the 24 mining firms in East China averaged 52,000 t/d during December 19-25, lower by 5.4% on week, according to Mysteel's tracking. A few companies in this region had already achieved their output targets for December so they stopped work last week.

Meanwhile, some mining enterprises in Central China slowed their concentrating operations to reduce exhaust emissions from their plants in response to local government emergency actions to tackle heavy air pollution. In the latest survey period, the combined concentrates production of the seven mining companies in Central China under Mysteel's tracking plunged by 17.5% on week to an average of 9,900 t/d.

Despite the output reduction, mine-side concentrates inventories have continued to gradually accumulate, with the total stocks held by the 186 mining firms rising for the fourth straight week to reach 854,700 t as of December 26, higher by 0.2% on week.

Contributing the most to the stocks growth were mines in Northeast China, which slowed their shipments last week, hoping to see domestic concentrates prices rise in the near future, market sources observed.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.