Seaborne iron ore arrivals to grow for 2nd straight week

SHANGHAI, Oct 31 (SMM) – Seventy-three vessels carrying 10.56 million mt of iron ore are likely to arrive at major Chinese ports during October 26 to November 1, up 720,000 mt from arrivals during October 19-25, SMM data showed.

Seaborne iron ore arrivals increased by 550,000 mt in the previous week.

Arrivals to Jingtang port are expected to shrink this week while arrivals to Caofeidian port and ports in Shandong province are likely to gain slightly.

For the same period, iron ore shipments departing Australian ports will decrease by 70,000 mt to 15.45 million mt; those leaving Brazilian ports will also fall by 90,000 mt to 7.87 million mt. This suggested that tight supplies of Australian materials including Mac fines, Newman fines and Pilbara Blend fines (MNP) across major ports would carry over into the near term.