Iron ore piles up in China

Monday 27 October 2025

The ferrous market is in a period of comprehensive excess that cannot last.

Even AI can read a broken ferrous market now.

Record-high Chinese iron ore imports in recent months create a disconnect with domestic steel production trends. While import volumes surge, steel mill output faces restrictions from profitability constraints and government-imposed production limits, indicating inventory buildup rather than consumption-driven demand.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.