Iron ore port stocks decline as steelmakers buy the dips

SHANGHAI, Aug 9 (SMM) – Iron ore stocks across Chinese ports declined this week, as sharply lower prices prompted steelmakers to ramp up purchases in the second half of the week.

SMM data showed that stocks across 35 Chinese ports shrank 1.29 million mt from a week ago and 31.45 million mt from a year ago, to stand at 107.84 million mt as of Friday August 9.

For the same week, daily iron ore deliveries from those ports averaged 2.69 million mt, up 212,000 mt from the prior week and 158,800 mt from the same period last year.

Jingtang port saw greater deliveries, with a daily average of above 310,000 mt this week, while that for Caofeidian port recovered to about 240,000 mt. This sharply lowered stocks across the two ports in Tangshan.

Daily deliveries from major ports in the east, the north where exclude Tangshan, and along the Yangtze River little changed this week.