Iron ore deliveries from Tangshan ports more than doubled from week ago

SHANGHAI, Dec 27 (SMM) – More than 750,000 mt of seaborne iron ore was delivered from Jintang and Caofeidian ports, two major ports at the top steelmaking hub of Tangshan, per day on average this week, showed SMM data.

This was up 439,000 mt, or 139% from last week, as Tangshan authorities lifted the ban on port transport and eased production curbs on steel mills after the latest round of heavy smog ended.

Seaborne iron ore deliveries from 35 Chinese ports averaged 2.82 million per day in the week ended December 27, up 359,000 mt from the previous week.

Despite greater deliveries, stocks of seaborne iron ore across those ports inched up 140,000 mt from a week earlier to 117.04 million mt as of December 27.

Steel mills’ restocking activity after the removal of anti-smog measures, is set to offer strong support to port spot iron ore prices.