Record imports of iron ore by China boost Kumba and Assore on Friday
Iron ore miner Kumba rallied 6% to R249.60 and Assore 4% to R294.95, following the release of Chinese balance of trade data which showed record imports of the base metal. Chinese imports grew 18.7% in September from the same month in 2016, far higher than an economists’ consensus of 13.5% from a poll by Trading Economics. The data showed Chinese iron ore imports reached a record 102.8-million tonnes in September, 10.5% higher than the 93-million tonnes imported in September 2016. The rally by iron ore miners also buoyed steel maker ArcelorMittal whose share price rose 4.2% to R5.43. While China’s imports beat forecasts, its exports grew disappointing 8.1% vs the expected 8.8%. The lower-than-expected export growth saw China’s trade surplus in September fall to $28.47bn from $40.94bn in the same month in 2016, and far below the expected $39.5bn.
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