China iron ore port stocks extended decline as steel mills recovered from maintenance

SHANGHAI, Mar 13 (SMM) – Inventories of seaborne iron ore at Chinese ports fell for a fifth straight week this week, as demand increased after some steel mills recovered production from maintenance.

SMM data showed that stocks across 35 Chinese ports totalled 110.17 million mt as of March 13, down 400,000 mt from a week ago and 26.21 million mt lower than a year ago.

This week’s decline was just about one-third of the 1.11 million mt drop in the previous week, as demand improvement was offset by greater arrivals.

Daily average iron ore deliveries from those ports increased 85,000 mt from the previous week to 2.73 million mt in the week ended March 13, contributed by major ports in Shandong and Tangshan. Deliveries from ports are unlikely to rise significantly as steel mills mostly restock only as needed.