Posted on 11 Apr 2022
Over April 1-7, inventories of imported iron ore at China's 45 major ports under Mysteel's survey decreased to a four-month low of 152.3 million tonnes, after the second on-week fall by 1.6 million tonnes or 1% on week, mainly as the volume discharged daily at local ports in Tangshan in North China's Hebei increased markedly over the period.
Over the latest survey period, the average daily iron ore discharge rate from these 45 ports totaled 3 million tonnes/day - a high since late January after rising for the second week by 323,070 t/d or 12% on week.
The rise in daily discharge rate was mainly because steelmakers in Tangshan were able to transport iron ore from Caofeidian and Jingtang ports to their plants via trucks, with the gradual easing in transportation restrictions previously imposed to contain the virus spread citywide.
Among the total, stocks of Australia-origin iron ore at China's 45 ports thinned to a two-month low of 74.1 million tonnes, falling for the fifth week by another 292,600 tonnes on week, and Brazilian ore declined for the second week by 990,000 tonnes or 2% on week to 49.7 million tonnes.
By product, lumps slipped by 234,800 tonnes or 1.2% on week to 19.4 million tonnes, and pellets reversed from seven weeks of gains by 141,400 tonnes or 2.7% on week to 5.1 million tonnes, and concentrates decreased to 11.3 million tonnes, down by 210,000 tonnes or 1.8% on week.
As of April 7, iron ore port stocks under the ownership of Chinese traders dropped to 88 million tonnes after the second on-week dip by 1.4 million tonnes or 1.5%, and its proportion among total stocks also fell by 0.3 percentage point to 57.8%.
Source:Mysteel Global
