Iron Ore Inventory at 10 Major Chinese Ports to Decline

SHANGHAI, Mar 8 (SMM) – The iron ore inventories across the ten major ports in China accumulated 8.9% MoM to 97.18 million mt as of February 24. The inventory grew across the four major varieties.

Total arrivals of the four major varieties increased from January as overseas shipments gradually recovered with fading impact from the adverse weather and port maintenance, though lower than the same period in previous years.

In addition, the unloading of ships at ports was implemented as scheduled in February, and the volume of cargoes delivered to warehouses increased.

The inventory of fines added 8.7% to 68.39 million mt, and that of concentrates rose 12.4% to 7.54 million mt.

The inventories of lumps and pellets climbed 5.7% and 16.4% respectively to 15.43 million mt and 5.81 million mt.

The weather-driven restrictions on sintering machines in Hebei at end-February bolstered lump demand, resulting in the lowest accumulation of lump.

Improving production enthusiasm at pelletising plants grew demand for pellet feed, thus demand for imported pellet declined.

From the perspective of the industrial chain, the profits of steel mills have recovered slightly. With the rise of ore prices, steel mills are mainly cautious in purchasing.

The slight increase in supply caused the inventory of the major ten ports to increase.

The gradual recovery of end-user demand will drive up the profits of steel mills, and the raw material consumption by steel mills will grow accordingly. It is expected that the port inventory will decline in the near term.