Pig Iron Production Declined; Iron Ore Inventory at 35 Ports May Build Up Again Next Week

As of December 20, the total inventory at the 35 ports monitored by SMM stood at 145.85 million mt, down 810,000 mt WoW but up 30.23 million mt YoY. The daily average port pick-up volume of imported ore was 3.132 million mt, down 109,000 mt WoW but up 670,000 mt YoY. Due to the impact of previous ore shipments, the overall port arrivals this week showed a declining trend. On the demand side, affected by annual maintenance at some steel mills and the pressure of environmental protection-driven production restrictions, pig iron production declined significantly, leading to a notable drop in port pick-up volume. However, influenced by the decrease in port arrivals, port inventory still showed a destocking trend. Looking ahead to next week, as pig iron production at steel mills continues to decline, port inventory is expected to increase further.