Iron Ore Shipments from Domestic Ports Added Slightly amid Thriving Demand

SHANGHAI, Feb 24 (SMM) - SMM statistics showed that iron ore inventories across the 35 ports in China totalled 138.11 million mt as of February 24, up 1 million mt on a weekly basis, but down 15.13 million mt from the previous year. The daily average shipments from the 35 ports added 45,000 mt on a weekly basis to 3.08 million mt.

The increase in port inventory resulted from the cargo inflows unloaded from arriving ships. On the fundamentals, the iron ore supply was tight this week, and operating rates of blast furnaces picked up slowly. Meanwhile, the initial recovery of end demand enhanced the confidence of raw material suppliers to steel mills. In the near turn, steel mills are likely to keep inventories at low levels despite minor profits recently.

Since iron ore shipments from domestic ports were still constrained by downstream demand and steel mills' profits, its growth will be limited. At the same time, the tight supply in Chinese market is expected to result in a slowdown in the accumulation of port inventory.