Significant reduction in port arrivals, iron ore stocks across 35 Chinese ports declined

As of September 20, the total inventory at the 35 ports monitored by SMM reached 150 million mt, down 720,000 mt WoW and up 37.46 million mt YoY. The daily average port pick-up volume of imported ore was 2.931 million mt, down 102,000 mt WoW and down 350,000 mt YoY. Due to the impact of the typhoon, the arrival volume significantly decreased two weeks ago; on the port cargo pick-up side, steel mills continued to restock as needed, leading to a slight decline in port pick-up volume. Overall, due to the significant decrease in arrival volume, port inventory showed a destocking trend.

Looking ahead to this week, the arrival volume is expected to continue to decline due to typhoon. As the National Day holiday approaches, steel mills may conduct some restocking operations, leading to a slight increase in port pick-up volume, while port inventory is expected to continue the destocking trend.