China's demand for iron ore based on underlying pig iron output in 2015 fell 3.5% year-on-year, while around 61 million mt of domestic iron ore was replaced by imports, according to analysis using industry and government customs data.
China's pig iron output in 2015 fell 3.5% to 691.4 million mt, the World Steel Association said Monday.
Production of that quantity would require 1.12 billion mt of iron ore on a 62% Fe fines basis, down from 1.16 billion mt of ore on 2014 pig iron output.
With China's iron ore imports increasing to 952.72 million mt in 2015, up 2.2% from 932.34 million mt imported in 2014, based on customs data, the call on domestic ores fell.
China's domestic iron ore share fell by 27% year-on-year to 162.5 million mt, accounting for 14.6% of the total demand.
The decline in share of domestic ore made up 5.5% of the market.
