China's commodity import levels down in Jan

Iron ore, coal, crude oil, refined oil all record significant price declines in global markets

Commodity imports fell sharpy last month compared with January 2014, a direct result of the economic slowdown, said experts.

Prices of raw materials such as iron ore, coal, crude oil and refined oil have been hitting record low prices on the global market, but import volumes into China, the world's second-largest economy, reported a major plunge in January.

A report from the Royal Bank of Scotland commenting on China's import and export data, said: "With exports and imports significantly weaker than expected, the January trade data may increase the need for macroeconomic policy measures to support growth."

The report said the recent external trade trends are more likely to lead to further domestic growth support measures than significant policy-driven exchange rate depreciation.

Iron ore imports fell 9.4 percent year-on-year to 78.57 million metric tons compared with the previous month. The import price dropped by 45.1 percent compared with the same period last year to an average of 438.6 yuan ($70.46) per ton, according to the General Administration of Customs data released on Sunday.

Liu Xinwei, an iron ore analyst with Shandong-based commodities consultancy Sublime China Information Group Co Ltd, said steel prices have fallen even further than iron ore, starting in December, which further cut steel producers' profits, and led to less iron ore being imported.

In addition, more steel furnaces carried out maintenance last month compared with previous years, he said, and said that China's iron ore imports in February will continue to remain low because of the ongoing maintenance.

Meanwhile, coal imports in January plunged by 53.2 percent year-on-year to 16.78 million tons, the biggest monthly drop in 15 years, with an average price of 415.3 yuan a ton, 18.4 percent lower than the same period last year.