Iron ore inventory at 35 domestic ports built up significantly

As of January 26, iron ore inventory across 35 ports tracked by SMM totalled 124.62 million mt, up 1.35 million mt WoW but down 9.02 million mt YoY. Daily average delivery from the ports was 2.933 million mt, down 127,000 mt WoW but 534,000 mt YoY. Iron ore inventory at ports remained high amid high port arrivals and unloading of vessels congested in ports. The reason behind the less shipments from the ports was a slow-down of demand amid the end of pre-holiday stockpiling and strong winds at some ports along the river.
Looking at this week, according to the operating rate of BFs, the daily average output of pig iron will still hike, but steel mills will still have weak buying appetite amid the end of pre-holiday stockpiling and a rally in iron ore futures price. It is expected that shipments from the ports will keep diminishing. Port arrivals may stand high. Under this circumstance, iron ore inventory at the ports may still build up.