Vale reported higher-than-expected iron ore production in 4Q23 at 89.4 million tonnes, up 10.6% year-on-year.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that crude steel production in December totalled 67.44 million tonnes. This was down from 76.1 million tonnes reported in November 2023 and down from 77.9 million tonnes reported a year earlier in December 2022. Such a low December 2023 output suggests to Tradeviews that the Chinese authorities may have imposed some undisclosed production curbs. China’s total steel production in 2023 was 1.02 billion tonnes, up marginally by 0.25% on 2022.
China Harbour Engineering Co has won the bid for the dredging project for shared channels and port basins for the two consortia developing the Simandou high-quality iron ore deposit in Guinea. The dredging work is planned to take 21 months to complete.