THE country’s iron ore imports rose again in August to a 19-month high, customs data showed Sunday, boosted by rebounding supplies from big miners and mills replenishing inventory as demand stabilized.

Arrivals of the steelmaking raw material totalled 94.85 million tons last month, up 4.2 percent from 91.02 million tons in July, to mark the highest level of imports since January 2018.

“Conditions for seaborne shipments in August to China were steady as big miners have resumed production,” Zhao Xiaobo, an analyst with Sinosteel Futures, said prior to the data’s release.

Mills and other industrial firms in major steelmaking cities have been asked to cut operations throughout September, but the curbs were almost in line with August and more lenient than expected.

“It is possible that big mills will be asked to implement additional temporary production restrictions pending the air quality this month,” Zhao said.

“Demand for steel and its raw materials in this September to October may not be as robust as previous years, especially as China is also restraining its real estate market.”

Utilization rates at steel mills across the country were at 68.23 percent last week as of Sept. 5, picking up slightly from the end of August, data compiled by Mysteel Consultancy showed.

(SD-Agencies)