SMM News: on Aug. 8, the General Administration of Customs announced that China imported 91.017 million tons of iron ore in July, an increase of 1.2 percent over the same period last year and 21 percent over June.

In addition, iron ore ships originally scheduled to ship from Brazil to China in June rebounded in one month's import growth due to delays in arriving in Hong Kong in July.

In June, China imported 75.1798 million tons of iron ore, down 9.7 percent from a year earlier, the lowest monthly level since March 2016.

In the first seven months of this year, China imported 590 million tons of iron ore, down 4.9 per cent from a year earlier.

In January, Vale of Brazil, the world's largest iron ore producer, was hit by a mining accident that led to the suspension of 93 million tons of production capacity in March and a large extension of subsequent shipping schedules.

According to Vale's announcement, after the dam break, there was a shortage of products in Vale's southern and southeast systems, and most of the scheduled ships could only be reassigned to Madeira Port in the northern system.

In March, April and early May, torrential rains in Brazil affected the operational efficiency and loading operations of the port, and the number of ships waiting to enter the port at the port of Madeira increased significantly. The number of ships berthing in St. Louis increased from 6 days in January to 32 days during the peak period in May.

The port of Madeira, one of the three ports in St. Louis, is an important iron ore export port for Vale.