The world's largest consumer of iron ore brought in 104.96 million tons last month, up from 91.61 million tons in October, also up 6.9 percent compared to November 2020, according to Customs General Administration data.
The increase in imports, dominated by products from Australia and Brazil, outstripped market expectations as iron ore prices cooled and steel demand was sluggish.
"November import data may be affected by the customs clearance factor," said Tang Binghua, Founding CIFCO Futures analyst in Beijing, adding that iron ore shipments and arrivals have not changed significantly in recent months.
However, Tang said it is unlikely that high levels of imports will continue as consumption is weak after China increased production controls on factories during the heating season and ahead of the Winter Olympics.
Imported iron ore inventories at Chinese ports rose for 10 consecutive weeks, jumping to 155.5 million tons last week, reaching the highest level since mid-2018, according to data from consulting firm Mysteel.
According to customs, in the first 11 months of the year, China imported 1.04 billion tons of iron ore, down 3.2 percent year on year.
Data on Tuesday also showed that November exports of China's steel products amounted to 4.36 million tons, down 3.1 percent month on month.
Customs said steel imports rose 25.7 percent month on month to 1.42 million tons last month.
In the January-November period, China's exports and imports of steel products were 61.88 million tons and 13.27 million tons, respectively.
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