SHANGHAI, Jan 2 (SMM) – Sixty-nine vessels carrying 9.8 million mt of iron ore are expected to arrive at major Chinese ports in the week ended Thursday January 3, down 390,000 mt from the previous week, SMM data showed.

For the same week, iron ore shipments departing Australian ports are expected to decrease by 380,000 mt from the prior week to 15.33 million mt, and those leaving Brazilian ports are likely to fall by 170,000 mt to 7.9 million mt.

Shrinking seaborne iron ore shipments will continue to provide support to prices.