Iron Ore Stocks At 35 Chinese Ports Likely To Build Up This Week

As of October 20, iron ore inventories across 35 ports tracked by SMM totalled 105.01 million mt, down 550,000 mt WoW and 21.17 million mt YoY, representing a consecutive drop for six weeks. The daily average imported ore shipments from the 35 ports were down 124,000 mt at 3.004 million mt last week. Shrinking pig iron output from a high point and poor profits of some finished products made a big dent in the amount of shipments from the ports last week. In addition, giving ongoing the “One Belt, One Road” conference, some dressing plants and steel mills in Hebei tightened environmental protection measures, suppressing their enthusiasm for the shipments. A total amount of iron ore arriving at Chinese ports stood at 24.3373 million mt, down 5.71% WoW. Therefore, a big part of the reason behind the inventory reduction was supply decrease. Current terminal demand was gradually sluggish. Except for winter storage, buying appetites ebbed. According to maintenance data collected by SMM, pig iron output may rebound this week. Poor funds will tame rigid replenishing demand from steel mills. Winter stockpiling in north China have been limited so far since weather is less cold this year. Therefore, the amount of shipments from the ports is unlikely to pick up this week. In addition, more arrivals at ports may unfold. It is expected that inventories at 35 ports may build up.