Surging port arrivals brought heavy piling-up of ore stocks at 35 Chinese ports

As of April 19, iron ore inventory across 35 ports tracked by SMM totalled 141.54 million mt, up 860,000 mt WoW and 14.59 million mt YoY. Daily average shipments from the ports were 2.884 million mt, up 9,000 mt WoW but down 163,000 mt YoY.

Port arrivals last week still increased significantly. Sustained rise in pig iron output amid pick-up of terminal demand and profits of steel mills slightly boosted concentrate demand, making shipments from the ports inch up.

Looking at this week, as profit improvement will fuel steel mills’ production enthusiasm. According to SMM's current tracking, soaring pig iron output may lift shipments from the ports. Short-term port arrivals will remain high. Overall iron ore stocks at the ports may keep move up, but the rise will likely slow down.