China iron ore imports up in October

China imported 80.8Mt of iron ore in October, up 7.0% year-on-year but down 13.0% month-on-month, Reuters reported, citing Chinese customs service and research firm data.

UK lender Barclays said the monthly figure was the lowest since February.

"The steep decline may have something to do with rough weather conditions at the port of Qingdao, where typhoons caused cargo delivery delays for most of the second half of October," Barclays said.

"A decline in exports of finished steel to just 7.7Mt, compared with 8.8Mt in September and a recent peak of more than 10Mt in July, suggests that China is having to export less of its steel surplus and that domestic steel demand may have picked up again recently. Consequently, we expect a rebound in iron ore shipments in November," the lender added.

London-based research firm Capital Economics said China's commodity import demand appears at odds with signs of a cyclical upturn in activity. "As such, we expect to see some recovery in coming months."

"Commodity export data were also subdued, with month-on-month falls in all the major exports. Indeed, steel exports were nearly 15% lower in year-on-year terms on a combination of subdued demand in some of the large emerging markets, rising protectionism (notably in the US and India) as well as higher domestic steel prices," Capital Economics senior commodities economist Caroline Bain said in a report on Tuesday.

"In addition, steel output may also have fallen last month in response to the surge in input costs, particularly coking coal," she said.

China's iron ore imports come mainly from Australia and Brazil. The two countries accounted for about 85% of the iron ore imported by China last year, compared with about 70% at the beginning of 2014.

Exports of Brazilian iron ore to China over the first 10 months of the year increased 24.6% year-on-year to 173Mt as revenue rose 17.7% to US$5.52bn, foreign trade department Secex said. Overall, in October Brazil's iron ore exports fell 2.15% year-on-year by value.