SHANGHAI, Jun 29 (SMM) – Iron ore inventories across 35 major Chinese ports increased over the week ended Friday June 29 amid a decline in daily average deliveries leaving those ports as demand along the Yangtze River sharply shrank, SMM learned.

As of Friday, port inventories rose 880,000 mt from a week ago to 143.06 million mt while daily average deliveries leaving the ports dropped 49,000 mt to 2.47 million mt, SMM data showed.

Some steel mills in Wuhu city in Anhui province, along the Yangtze River, were required to suspend or cut production from Monday June 25 to the end of this month due to heavy pollution across the region. Meanwhile, Danyang Longjiang Steel in Jiangsu province, also along the Yangtze River, ceased its production as well after excessive emission was found during the environmental reviews and was reported by state broadcaster on June 25. Such shrinkage in demand significantly lowered the deliveries leaving the ports along the Yangtze River.

However, inventories at Qingdao and Jingtang ports dipped over the week. Rising volumes delivered from Qingdao port weighed down the inventory despite an increase in seaborne arrivals. A berth at Jingtang port undertook maintenance this week, which affected the offloading of arrivals. Inventory at Jingtang port, therefore, edged down slightly although production limitations and rigorous checks over overloading lingered in Tangshan area.