Brazil's Vale has resumed operations at its distribution centre in Malaysia, the Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal (TRMT), but the fast spreading of the coronavirus in Brazil may keep its iron ore shipments from rebounding significantly in the near term. 

SMM data showed that iron ore stocks across 35 Chinese ports decreased 1.18 million mt in the week ended May 15 to 101.79 million mt, some 21.89 million mt lower than a year ago. This week’s decline almost halved from the previous week’s 2.29 million mt.

The most-active September iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) climbed as much as 3% on Friday May 8 to hit the highest level over more than the past month, ending higher for the fifth consecutive day at 633 yuan/mt, up 2.59%. 

Inventories of seaborne iron ore at Chinese ports fell slower this week, as steel mills were cautious about raw material procurement amid market turmoil.   SMM data showed that iron ore stocks across 35 Chinese ports fell 910,000 mt in the week ended April 3 to 106.86 million mt, smaller than a 1.57 million mt decline in the previous week. The stocks were 30.44 million mt lower than a year ago.

Dalian iron ore futures rose more than 3% to its highest in nearly eight months in Wednesday afternoon trade, on growing concerns about supply as nations across the world enacted measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. The most active iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange for May delivery hit an eight-month peak of 692 yuan/mt in afternoon trade, before it erased the majority of those gains.

China produced 33.96 million mt of steel rebar in January-February, down 2.2% from a year earlier amid the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

DCE iron ore dropped more than 2% in early trade on Tuesday, before it recouped some losses to end the day 0.52% lower at 672.5 yuan/mt, still standing well above lows hit in early February

You can join our webinar on the latest impact from the virus, and a deep dive into the ferrous metals market (steel and iron ore), tomorrow (February 19) at 5PM China time

SHFE nonferrous metals, except for zinc, closed higher on Tuesday

China took 61.28 million mt of iron ore and concentrate from Australia in December, up 14.1% YoY