The authorities at Jiangyin port in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu have announced that in the January-March period of the current year imports of iron ore at the port totaled 920,000 mt, as compared to 1.2 million mt in the first three months of 2011. The value of these imports in the first quarter this year totaled $99.54 million, compared to $180 million in the first quarter of 2011.
In the first three months of the current year, the main sources of iron ore imports arriving at Jaingyin port were Indonesia, India, Iran, the Philippines and Malaysia. In recent years, the share of Indian iron ore in the overall iron ore import volume arriving at Jiangyin port has fallen from 90 percent to about 20 percent, mainly due to the increased iron ore export tax in India and output limitations in some regions of India.
Meanwhile, import prices of iron ore at Jiangyin port have continued to slide down since the second half of 2011, according to the port authorities.