*

Dec iron ore imports up 11.5% y/y, up 10.4% m/m

*

2024 iron ore imports up 4.9% y/y

*

2024 steel exports up 22.7% y/y

*

2024 steel imports down 10.9% y/y

(Adds bullets, steel trade data in paragraphs 11-13)

By Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson

BEIJING, Jan 13 (Reuters) - China's iron ore imports in

2024 rose for a second year to a record high, up 4.9% from the

prior year, customs data showed on Monday, as lower prices

spurred buying and demand remained resilient despite its

sluggish economy.

The world's largest iron ore consumer brought in a total of

about 1.24 billion metric tons last year, data from the

country's General Administration of Customs showed, versus 1.18

billion metric tons in 2023 when it posted an annual increase of

6.6%.

Although steel output slid by 2.7% from the year before in

the first 11 months of 2024 and was on track for an annual

decline, demand for the key steelmaking ingredient remained

solid as it was still more cost competitive to produce steel

from the blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace that consumes iron

ore.

In comparison, the electric arc furnace-based steelmakers

which intake scrap material had to either conduct maintenance or

scale down production due to losses amid persistent constraints

on scrap supply.

Additionally, traders that had bought high-cost iron ore

earlier last year continued purchasing for the key steelmaking

ingredient in a bid to average out their overall production

costs and reduce loss, said analysts.

Higher imports contributed to a price slump and a pile-up in

portside stocks , which climbed by 28%

year-on-year to 146.85 million tons as of Dec. 27, data from

consultancy Steelhome showed.

Iron ore prices slid by 31% last year,

according to Steelhome data.

In December alone, China imported 112.49 million tons of

iron ore, up 10.4% from 101.86 million tons in November.

The December volume compared to 100.86 million tons in the

same month in 2023.

China's iron ore imports are likely to hit a new high in

2025 as traders stockpile cheap ore for the world's top consumer

despite a protracted property crisis continuing to weigh on

domestic steel demand, traders and analysts said.

STEEL TRADE

China exported 9.73 million tons of steel products in

December, a year-on-year rise of 25.9% and a month-on-month

increase of 4.9%.

That has brought total steel exports this year to the

highest since 2015 at 110.72 million tons with an annual

increase of 22.7%.

China also imported 621,000 tons of steel in December,

bringing the 2024 total to 6.82 million tons, a fall of 10.9%

from 2023.