Iron Ore Stocks At Ports Kept Piling Up In March Amid Sluggish Terminal Demand

As of March 29, iron ore inventory across 35 ports tracked by SMM was 140.18 million mt, up 4.71 million mt MoM and 9.16 million mt YoY. The daily average shipment from the 35 ports was 2.779 million mt, down 1.4% MoM.

In March, port arrivals continued to grow, and port congestion eased thanks to good weather. As steel inventory build-up amid limited terminal demand improvement blunted pig iron output, iron ore demand tapered off, leading to decline in the average daily shipments from the ports.

Heading into April, overseas shipments may increase, thus keeping port arrivals growing. According to SMM's current tracking, as pick-up of profits of steel mills will add pig iron output, thus boosting iron ore demand. Iron ore inventory at the ports may still increase in April due to growing arrivals.