Iron ore port stocks fell for 3 weeks as demand recovered

SHANGHAI, Feb 28 (SMM) – Inventories of seaborne iron ore across 35 Chinese ports totalled 111.68 million mt as of February 28, down 1.56 million mt from a week ago and 21.12 million mt lower than a year ago, showed SMM data.

This marked three consecutive weeks of decline, with no significant increase expected in the short term as demand improves on the back of logistics recovery.

Daily average iron ore deliveries from the 35 ports increased 135,000 mt from a week ago to 2.73 million mt this week, primarily propelled by an increase of 30% at ports in Tangshan. Other major ports in east, north and south China also saw more shipments of iron ore this week.

The top steelmaking hub of Tangshan activated temporary measures to combat air pollution this week, which had limited impact on the actual production at local steel mills. Some steel mills increased purchases this week as they planned to recover production.