China imported 96.2 MMT of iron ore in August.  This marks a month-on-month increase of 5 MMT (5%) but is down year-on-year by 1.3 MMT (-1%).  As we have continued to stress, there remains a good chance that China’s iron ore imports will continue to climb higher during the second half of this year.  Iron ore port stockpiles remain well below this year’s high, Brazilian and Australian iron ore production remain poised to continue to undergo seasonal strength, and steel production has continued to rise in recent weeks.

China imported 29.5 MMT of coal in August.  This marks a month-on-month increase of 6 MMT (26%) and is up year-on-year by 1.4 MMT (5%).  While coal imports might easily maintain the recent strength in the near term, we continue to stress that there remains a good chance that China’s coal imports will end this year showing a year-on-year contraction.  China’s domestic coal production has continued to fare much better than thermal coal-derived electricity generation.  Coal imports this year are so far down year-on-year by 15%.

China imported 7.2 MMT of soybeans in August.  This marks a month-on-month decline of 700,000 tons (-9%) and is down year-on-year by 2.3 MMT (-24%).  Weakness in Chinese animal feed production has continued to put pressure on soybean import demand along with robust global soybean prices.