On September 17, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) announced that in August this year China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) issued iron ore import licenses for a total of 104.4227 million mt, up 2.13 percent month on month, valued at $9.421 billion. In the first eight months of the year, iron ore import licenses were issued for a total of 829.9569 million mt, valued at $88.723 billion.
In August this year, the iron ore import licenses issued by China for Australian and Brazilian iron ore amounted to 64.3365 million mt and 18.9325 million mt respectively, up 5.49 percent and down 16.10 percent month on month. In the January-August period, the iron ore import licenses issued by China for Australian and Brazilian iron ore totaled 468.5402 million mt and 152.9905 million mt respectively.
Licenses issued for imports of South African iron ore in the given month amounted to 4.3126 million mt, up 26.77 percent, valued at $405 million, while licenses issued for iron ore from other countries amounted to 5.5015 million mt, valued at $463 million. In the January-August period, the import licenses issued by China for iron ore from South Africa and other countries amounted to 38.5929 million mt and 58.5981 million mt respectively.