MMi Daily Iron Ore Report (January 12)

As of January 8, iron ore inventories across 35 ports tracked by SMM totalled 116.89 million mt, a decrease of 2.16 million mt from the previous week and up 3.15 million mt year-on-year. This marked the first decline after two consecutive weeks of growth.

DCE iron ore futures today ascended higher and quotations in the physical port stock market increased by 5-15yuan/mt in the morning. PBF was closed at 1120-1135yuan/mt in Shandong and Tangshan market. Mills demands for low grade products increased as according to SMM, the price spread between mainstream medium and low grade products kept expanding.

As of November 4, iron ore inventories across 35 ports tracked by SMM totalled 118.03 million mt, a decrease of 1.05 million mt from the previous week and an increase of 4.53 million mt year-on-year. This marked four consecutive weeks of decline.

A total of 101 vessels carrying 14.63 million mt of iron ore arrived at major Chinese ports during November 22-28, SMM estimates. This was up 110,000 mt from the previous week but down 1.45 million mt from the same period last year.

As of November 27, iron ore inventories across 35 ports tracked by SMM totaled 119.08 million mt, a decrease of 1.16 million mt from the previous week and an increase of 4.92 million mt year-on-year. This marked three consecutive weeks of decline. Daily average deliveries from the 35 ports decreased 31,000 mt on a weekly basis to 2.93 million mt this week.

Although DCE iron ore futures market headed for upward, the physical port stock prices inched down slightly. Some mills performed to be active in inquiring early this week due to their recent increasing profits while majority remained purchase on demands.

The physical port stock prices continued rising by 5-10yuan/mt as DCE iron ore futures market remained relatively strong tendency. PBF in Shandong market was mainly traded at 875yuan/mt and that in Tangshan market was around 880yuan/mt.

A total of 76 vessels carrying 12.2 million mt of iron ore arrived at major Chinese ports during September 13-19, SMM estimates. This was down 2.44 million mt from the previous week. The amount of arrivals at major Shandong ports fell sharply week on week, while that in Tangshan rose by more than 20%.

SMM data showed that iron ore stocks across 35 Chinese ports totalled 107.28 million mt as of September 11, up 630,000 mt from a week ago, but 1.47 million mt lower than a year ago.