China Iron Ore Port Inventory Registers 4-Week Decline, SMM Reports

According to Hebei Daily, recently, Shanghai University and Changli County Dongwen Precise Machine Parts Co., Ltd. jointly completed the first development test of hydrogen-enriched smelting technology of blast furnace with pure hydrogen as blowing gas source in China.

China rare earth ore imports recorded 14,400 mt in January-February 2022, down 13% YoY which was mainly attributed to middle and heavy rare earth.

The SHFE and LME nickel prices diverged markedly in the afternoon trading on Tuesday. The SHFE/LME nickel price ratio shrank from 7.28 to 7.07. The import loss widened to $1,000/mt.

Currently, the iron ore prices have been rising rapidly in contrary to the background that the supply and demand in the iron ore market has been stable and the port inventory has also been at a high level.

On February 18, the National Development and Reform Commission and other 11 central departments jointly issued a notice on a series of policies to promote stable growth of industrial economy.

According to General Administration of Customs China imported 8.73 million mt of bauxite in December, up 13.32% month-on-month and 16.4% year-on-year.

China imported 4.01 million mt of nickel ore and its concentrate in November, a decrease of 10% from the previous month and a year-on-year increase of 12%, According to General Administration of Customs.

The trades remained subdued, and the Yangshan copper premiums changed little. Many trading companies have closed their accounts and are busy with the year-end settlement, lacking purchasing interest for spot cargoes. Import losses fluctuated between 200-400 yuan/mt during the week against the January contract.

The profits at steel mills increased, boosting the demand for iron ore. Besides, real estate credit policy may marginally loosen, boosting market sentiment and pushing up steel prices. Iron ore futures have risen for several days.  China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, will cut the reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage point. Government also released the signal of “stabilising the real estate industry”. Iron ore prices surged 8.66% yesterday supported by multiple factors.

In October steel export volume reaches 4.98 million tonnes, dropping 3.1% and 35.3% on monthly and yearly basis respectively.