China, the world’s biggest iron ore buyer, cut purchases by 11 percent in April from the previous month as higher prices deterred purchases.
Imports were 52.88 million metric tons in April, down from 59.48 million tons in March, according to China’s General Administration of Customs. That’s 4.4 percent lower than a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Second-quarter contract iron ore prices were forecast by Baosteel Group Corp. to surge 25 percent. Chinese steelmakers rushed to buy iron ore in March before the price increase, Hu Kai, an analyst with researcher Umetal.com said.
“Activity cooled down in April as prices gained,” Hu said before the release. “Traders diverged on the market outlook because of signs of further tightening on the economy,”.
The cash price of 62 percent-iron ore arriving at China’s Tianjin port has gained 4.2 percent to $179.70 a ton since April 1, according to the Steel Index.
China’s iron-ore imports rose 9.5 percent to 230 million tons in the first four months from a year ago, the customs administration said.
Steel-product exports dropped 2.9 percent to 4.77 million tons last month from 4.91 million tons in March, according to the data. The shipments were up 17 percent from a year earlier to 15.28 million tons in the first four months, the data showed.
China’s government has been moving to damp demand for housing, a major user of steel. The People’s Bank of China on May 3 said that controlling inflation is its top priority, even after a manufacturing index slid in April, which indicates that growth may slow in the second-biggest economy.
Premier Wen Jiabao said May 1 that the nation is “determined” to bring down housing prices in some cities to a “reasonable” level. China’s home prices rose for the eighth consecutive month in April, according to SouFun Holdings Ltd.