Launceston, Australia — Another month, another story of strong Chinese imports of iron ore, with August set to be the highest so far this year. China’s imports of seaborne iron ore were around 88.9-million tonnes in August, according to vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodity Forecasts. This makes August the strongest month this year, beating July’s 85.4-million tonnes and March’s 86.5-million, according to the data. The vessel-tracking data doesn’t align exactly with China’s official customs numbers as it excludes iron ore that arrives by rail from neighbouring countries, and there are also slight discrepancies as to when cargoes are booked as having arrived. However, what the shipping data does confirm is that China’s demand for seaborne iron ore remains robust and remarkably consistent. Total seaborne imports stood at 671.6-million tonnes as of the end of August, up 3.6% from the 648.1-million recorded in the same period in 2016. Every...
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