SHANGHAI, Jul 10 (SMM) – Inventories of seaborne iron ore at Chinese ports continued to trend higher this week, as swiftly rising prices kept steel mills cautious about procurement and as eased port congestion allowed cargoes to enter warehouses.

SMM data showed that iron ore stocks across 35 Chinese ports increased 760,000 mt in the week ended July 10 to 101.42 million mt, following a 340,000 mt rise in the previous week. The stocks were 2.98 million mt lower than a year ago.

During the same week, iron ore deliveries from the 35 ports averaged 2.87 million mt per day, slightly up 3,000 mt from the previous week, according to SMM data.

Iron ore stocks at the two ports in the top steelmaking hub of Tangshan rose slightly this week, due to increased arrivals of late and eased port congestion. Deliveries from the ports in Tangshan, however, surprisingly rose this week, nearing 340,000 mt per day, as mills’ compliance with the production curbs was less strict than expected.

Arrivals of seaborne iron ore at ports of Qingdao and Rizhao, two major ports in east China’s Shandong, dropped 24% week on week, while deliveries expanded. That narrowed the price spreads with Tangshan.