Iron Ore Prices are Expected to Rise This Week.

SHANGHAI, Feb 20 S(MM) - Iron ore prices are expected to rise this week. The iron ore prices dropped slightly last Monday following the weakness the week before. But the market confidence was soon boosted by improving real estate sales as well as resuming construction projects. In addition, the social inventory of construction steel dropped to multi-year low, and its apparent demand also boomed. On the fundamentals, shipments from Australia have dropped palpably recently, while those from Brazil picked up to some extent. Collectively, the overseas shipments remained low, offering solid support to iron ore prices. In terms of spot prices at ports, the spot prices of PB fines in Shandong gained 5-10 yuan/mt on the week. Looking at this week, shipments from Australia and Brazil are expected to remain flat, but those from other countries will improve amid high iron ore prices. The iron ore inventory at Chinese ports, on the other hand, has started to fall following declining shipments from Australia and Brazil in the early stage, which have lowered the recent arrivals in China. On the demand side, the steel mills are likely to ramp up the purchases of raw materials on potentially improving profitability, though pig iron output has been stable recently. The market players shall watch the sustainability of construction steel demand. And imported iron ore prices are likely to maintain momentum this week.