Iron ore arrivals at Chinese ports gained 2.43 million mt on week

SHANGHAI, Apr 7 (SMM) – A total of 86 vessels carrying 13.43 million mt of iron ore arrived at major Chinese ports during March 29 to April 4, SMM estimates.

This was up 2.43 million mt from the prior week, and up 1.35 million mt from the same period last year.

For the same week, iron ore deliveries leaving Australian ports rose 1.09 million mt from the previous week to 17.41 million mt, some 4.12 million mt higher than the same period last year.

Shipments that departed Brazilian ports were estimated to have jumped 1.01 million mt from the prior week to 5.62 million mt. This was 3.3 million mt higher than the same period last year, when heavy rainfalls and Vale dam collapse knocked shipments to low levels.

The combined iron ore shipments from Australia and Brazil continued to increase last week, pointing to a well-supplied market in China where iron ore prices will remain under pressure.