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By Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson

BEIJING, Sept 8 (Reuters) - China's iron ore imports in August climbed 0.6% from July, as lower prices encouraged sustained buying and as mills prepared for the peak steel demand period in September.

The world's largest iron ore consumer brought in 105.23 million metric tons of the steelmaking ingredient last month, staying above 100 million tons for a third month, data from the country's General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.

That was up from 104.62 million tons in July and 3.8% higher than the 101.39 million tons imported in August 2024.

Lower iron ore prices SH-CCN-IRNOR62 in the second quarter, with the average below the key psychological level of $100 a ton, spurred buying interest and supported sustained high imports between June and August, analysts said last week before the data release.

Also, imports rose last month due to hot metal output, a gauge of iron ore demand, remaining high, said Zhuo Guiqiu, an analyst at broker Jinrui Futures.

Last month, average daily hot metal output was 2.41 million tons, almost flat from July month but 5% higher than a year earlier, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.

Comparatively strong ore demand saw prices rise for a second straight month in August.

A wave of restocking among steel mills in anticipation of the seasonal increase in steel demand in September also led to higher ore imports in August.

In the first eight months of 2025, China's iron ore imports totalled 801.62 million tons, narrowing the year-to-date decline to 1.6% from 2.3% for the January-to-July period, according to the data.

China's steel exports in August fell 3.4% from the prior month to 9.51 million tons.

For the year-to-date, exports were 77.49 million tons, up 10% from the same time a year earlier, and a record high for the period.

China's steel exports have been surprisingly robust so far this year despite mounting anti-dumping measures from partners including Vietnam and South Korea, arguing local manufacturers were hurt by the flood of cheap Chinese steel.

(Reporting by Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

((Amy.Lv@thomsonreuters.com;))