Iron ore arrivals at Chinese ports continued to edge lower on week

SHANGHAI, May 26 (SMM) – A total of 83 vessels carrying 13.37 million mt of iron ore arrived at major Chinese ports during May 17-23, SMM estimates. This was down 140,000 mt from the prior week. The amount of arrivals in China’s steelmaking hub Tangshan increased on the week, while shipments arrived in Shandong declined.

For the same week, iron ore deliveries leaving Australian ports continued to increase, rising 1.62 million mt on the week to 17.42 million mt, some 3.16 million mt higher than the same period last year, with the year-on-year increase exceeding 20%. 

Shipments that departed Brazilian ports were estimated to expand 810,000 mt from the prior week to 5.52 million mt, about 500,000 mt lower than the level of the same period last year.