Shipments Flowing out of the 35 Ports Increase Palpably this Week as the Unloading at Ports Accelerates

SHANGHAI, Feb 10 (SMM) - As of February 10, iron ore inventories across 35 ports tracked by SMM totalled 136.09 million mt, up 780,000 mt WoW but down 17.98 million mt YoY. The daily average shipments of imported ore from the ports added 423,000 mt to 2.95 million mt last week. Market sentiment improved with the slight increase in demand for finished products last week, and iron ore trading picked up. However, the steel mills were not active in purchasing owing to their losses. On the fundamentals, two weeks ago, the volume of iron ore arriving at ports was stable WoW. But the unloading at ports accelerated last week. On the demand side, pig iron output grew last week and is expected to increase further in the near future, which may push up the shipments flowing out of the ports this week. Therefore, SMM presumes that the iron ore inventories across 35 ports will drop this week.