Iron Ore Arrivals at Chinese Ports Up 1.66 million mt on Week

SHANGHAI, Dec 7 (SMM) – According to data tracked by SMM, 65 ships arrived at domestic main ports in November 29 – December 5. Arrivals of cargoes are estimated to stand at 9.91 million mt, up 1.66 million mt from the previous week and down 3.25 million mt year on year.

Shipments that departed Australian ports were estimated to increase 1.82 million mt week on week to 20.28 million mt, up 4.6 million mt on the year. And that from Brazilian ports increased 0.4 million mt to 5.35 million mt on a weekly basis, down 1.14 million mt on the year. The total arrivals of imported ore rose from the prior week, and the combined shipments from Australia and Brazil also increased slightly.

The People’s Bank of China lowered the RRR rate for financial institutions by 0.5 percentage point on December 15, 2021. Meanwhile, the Economic Blue Book published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences also boosted the confidence of the real estate sector, pushing up iron ore prices. However, the arrivals of iron ore at ports increased, and the port inventory was still on the rise. And the demand for iron ore was weak amid heavy air pollution in north China and low operating rates or steel mills. Hence iron ore prices are likely to move rangebound in the near term amid weak fundamentals.