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

SHANGHAI, Jul 14 (SMM) – A total of 91 vessels carrying 15.44 million mt of iron ore arrived at eight major Chinese ports during July 5-11, SMM estimates. This was down 350,000 mt from the prior week and down 2.08 million mt from the previous year. 

The amount of arrivals in China’s top steelmaking city of Tangshan continued to rise, on the back of higher demand from steel mills and increased purchases by traders, with arrivals at two ports in Tangshan both exceeding 3 million mt. 

For the same week, iron ore deliveries leaving Australian ports fell 1.63 million mt on the week to 15.93 million mt. That was 1.75 million mt higher as compared with the same period last year. Maintenance at the Port Hedland and Port Walcott in early-July accounted for the decline in shipments from a week ago, but the proportion of Australian iron ore destined for China rebounded on the week. 

Shipments that departed Brazilian ports were estimated to dip 680,000 mt from the prior week to 6.22 million mt, also due to maintenance at some ports. The reading was about 530,000 mt higher than the level of the same period last year.

Smaller arrivals at Chinese ports and reduced shipments from Australia and Brazil last week remain supportive of the iron ore market.