China, the world's top steel producer, imported 1.17-billion tonnes of iron-ore in 2020, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday.

That beat annual imports of 1.069-billion tonnes in 2019 and the previous record of 1.075-billion tonnes set in 2017.

"The jump came as overseas consumption (of iron-ore) plunged, while China had strong demand," said Wang Yingwu, chief analyst with Huatai Futures in Beijing.

While most of the world has been battling the coronavirus in 2020, idling blast furnaces and announcing job cuts, China expected full-year steel output of one billion tonnes following a rapid recovery from the pandemic.

Capacity utilisation rates at 163 mills across China have been hovering at above year-ago levels since the second half of 2020 to meet increasing demand for steel products used in infrastructure and the manufacturing sector.

Benchmark iron ore futures prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose more than 50% last year.