Iron ore inventory across 35 Chinese ports built up rapidly amid weak-than-expected post-holiday restocking

As of February 23, iron ore inventory across 35 ports tracked by SMM totalled 132.64 million mt, up 4.46 million mt from pre-holiday level but down 5.47 million mt YoY. Daily average delivery from the ports was 2.6 million mt, down 331,000 mt from pre-holiday level and 473,000 mt YoY.

There was heavy piling-up of inventory at the ports last week, like ports along the Yangtze River and in North China. Port arrivals remained high. In Terms of shipments from the ports, a large erosion in demand from steel mills during the holidays and disrupted transportation amid weak fallout made a dent in shipments from the ports in various places. Therefore, iron ore stocks at the ports built up.

Looking at this week, a pullback in iron ore prices and short-term pig iron output of BFs will give a boost to demand from steel mills. Shipments from the ports may mount. Port arrivals will still stand high. Therefore, iron ore stocks at the ports may keep hiking.