Posted on 25 Jul 2022
Imported iron ore inventories stockpiled at China's 45 major ports under Mysteel's survey increased further to 131.9 million tonnes over July 15-21, up for the fourth week by another 1.7 million tonnes or 1.3% on week to reach a one-month high.
Despite fewer arrivals of ore carriers at the ports during the period, vessels at anchor that had earlier been prevented by bad weather from unloading could finally secure berths, and this – plus lower daily discharge rates – caused stocks to swell, Mysteel Global notes.
Over the latest survey period, the volume of ore discharged at the 45 ports reached the lowest level since February 18, falling for the second week by 135,800 tonnes/day or 5% on week to 2.6 million t/d on average. This reflected the fact that as steelmakers were losing money on their sales of finished steel, they had little appetite for buying ore.
Meanwhile, the number of vessels queuing at the same ports for unloading decreased substantially by 23 on week to 85, the shortest queue since May 22 2020, according to the data.
On the other hand, over July 11-17, the 45 ports received around 21.9 million tonnes of new iron ore shipments, down by 6.4 million tonnes or 22.7% on week, according to Mysteel's other shipment survey.
Among the total, both Australian and Brazilian iron ore at the 45 ports grew to their respective highs since late May, with the former up 593,700 tonnes on week at 61.6 million tonnes, and the latter rising by 1.5 million tonnes or 3.6% on week to 44.2 million tonnes.
By product, the stocks of lumps increased for the fifth week by another 9% on week to touch a three-month high of 19.4 million tonnes, while concentrate stocks gained by 3.3% on week to 8.8 million tonnes. On the contrary, pellets thinned to 5.6 million tonnes, having retreated by just 15,300 tonnes on week from the prior week's rise.
As of July 21, the tonnage held by Chinese traders had increased too, rising by 1.2 million tonnes or 1.6% on week to 77.6 million tonnes, or accounting for 58.8% of the total, Mysteel's tracking showed. This was 0.2 percentage point higher on week.
Source:Mysteel Global
