THE country’s iron ore imports rose to a record 38.2 million tons in February, 4 percent above the previous peak in January, as steel mills and merchants raced to import before higher prices kick in.
        Domestic steelmakers, led by Shanghai-based Baosteel Group, agreed with Brazil’s mining giant Vale to a 65 percent rise in iron ore prices for the fiscal year beginning in April. The figure also reflected an easing of port congestion, which some analysts had said would reduce iron ore shipments to China in the first quarter from Australian and Brazilian miners.