SHANGHAI, Sep 15 (SMM) – The most-traded DCE I2401 iron ore contract closed up 2.33% at 879 yuan/mt today. Traders were motivated to ship goods and iron ore quotations were firm. The wait-and-see sentiment among steel mills intensified, and the overall transaction atmosphere was sluggish. The transaction price of PB fines was 955 yuan/mt in Tangshan, up 15 yuan/mt compared with the previous trading day. The total inventory of iron ore at the 35 ports in China tracked by SMM was 115.42 million mt, which was down 25,000 mt WoW, and 12.33 million mt lower than the same period last year. The average daily cargo pick-up from ports increased by 37,000 mt on a week-on-week basis to 3.082 million mt. Driven by the high output of pig iron and inventory replenishment before the National Day, cargo pick-up volume increased. According to SMM’s survey, some steel mills’ imported ore replenishment rose obviously with about 10 days of usage. Strong demand for iron ore provided support for ore prices. On the macro front, PBOC once again lowered the reserve ratio by 0.25 percentage points, which stimulated market sentiment, so short-term mineral prices may continue to fluctuate at high levels.