According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Friday, China’s iron ore imports fell for the first time in four months in October, as the decline in profit margins reduced steel companies’ demand for such steelmaking raw materials.

According to customs data, China imported 92.86 million tons of iron ore and concentrates last month, down 6.5% from September's 99.36 million tons, but up from 88.4 million tons in the same period last year.

In the first 10 months of this year, China's largest iron ore consumer in the world imported 8.7718 billion tons of iron ore and concentrate, down from 8.9148 billion tons in the same period last year.

The reason for the decline in imports is that from raw materials to environmentally limited production, the cost of steel mills is high, resulting in a sharp drop in profits.