Iron ore arrivals at Chinese ports rose 550,000 mt on week

SHANGHAI, Feb 23 (SMM) – A total of 84 vessels carrying 12.84 million mt of iron ore arrived at major Chinese ports during February 14-20, SMM estimates. This was up 550,000 mt from the previous week, and 1.42 million mt from the same period last year.

For the same week, iron ore deliveries leaving Australian ports plunged 2.31 million mt on a weekly basis to 15.44 million mt.

Shipments that departed Brazilian ports were estimated to fall 350,000 mt week on week to 5.98 million mt. This was 1.37 million mt higher than the same period last year.

Domestic steel products prices rose rapidly after the Chinese New Year holiday, signaling better demand for iron ore, which supported its prices.