Iron ore arrivals at Chinese ports expanded 730,000 mt on week

SHANGHAI, Apr 7 (SMM) – A total of 91 vessels carrying 12.02 million mt of iron ore arrived at major Chinese ports during March 28-April 3, SMM estimates. This was up 730,000 mt from the previous week, but down 1.41 million mt from the same period last year.

For the same week, iron ore deliveries leaving Australian ports fell sharply by 3.46 million mt on a weekly basis to 16.6 million mt.

Shipments that departed Brazilian ports were estimated to drop 490,000 mt week on week to 5.95 million mt. This was 330,000 mt higher than the same period last year.

Lower shipments from Australia and Brazil and strong demand for medium and high-grade iron ore will support ore prices in the near term.