Iron ore inventories at 10 ports held flat WoW, with a noticeable accumulation in pellet stocks

The total iron ore inventories at the 10 major ports tracked by SMM held flat WoW this week. Stocks of different types are as follows: fines (87.17 million mt, -10,000 mt), iron ore concentrates (10.55 million mt, -100,000 mt), lump (12.48 million mt, -130,000 mt), and pellet (5.09 million mt, +240,000 mt).

Both fines and iron ore concentrates saw a slight drop in inventory. The recent recovery in profits of steel mills and a certain purchase demand from steel mills drove the decline in iron ore concentrate stocks. Due to persisting environmental protection pressures in some regions, lump demand was decent, with some steel mills increasing their purchase frequency, leading to a slight destocking trend. The domestic supply of pellets has been ample recently, reducing the demand for imported ones, resulting in an accumulation of pellet inventories at ports.

Looking ahead to next week, according to SMM, blast furnace pig iron output is expected to rise again, providing some support for iron ore concentrate demand. However, as port arrivals are likely to remain at a high level, port inventories are expected to accumulate again. Given the difference in cost-performance ratio, four types of iron ore are expected to diverge in stocks.