SHANGHAI, Nov 16 (SMM) – According to data tracked by SMM, 79 ships arrived at domestic main ports in November 8-14. Arrivals of cargoes are estimated to stand at 12.06 million mt, down 0.64 million mt from the previous week and down 1.26 million mt year on year.
Shipments that departed Australian ports were estimated to decrease 3.01 million mt week on week to 16.3 million mt, down 0.89 million mt on the year. And that from Brazilian ports decreased 0.28 million mt to 4.4 million mt on a weekly basis, down 3.5 million mt on the year. The total arrivals of imported ore dropped slightly from the prior week, and the combined shipments from Australia and Brazil also declined significantly.
The environmental protection-related restrictions in north China has intensified again recently, leading to the shot down of sintering machines of many steel mills. As such, quite a few steel mills have suffered losses, who may carry out maintenance in the future. The demand for iron ore continues to weaken. The supply of iron ore will surpass demand for some time as the inventory at ports have been rising though the shipments from mines declined. And the iron ore prices will move weakly in the near term.
