Posted on 01 Aug 2022
Total inventory of imported iron ore at China's 45 ports under Mysteel's weekly survey increased to a two-month high of 135.3 million tonnes over July 22-28, up for the fifth consecutive week by another 3.4 million tonnes or 2.6% on week, mainly due to the dip in daily discharge rate despite lower volume of new arrivals to these ports.
Over the latest survey period, the total volume of ore being discharged at the 45 ports declined to 2.6 million tonnes/day, hitting the lowest level since February 18 after the third on-week fall by 8,700 t/d.
Most steelmakers in China continued reducing their iron ore buying during the period, as many had scaled back their steel output when they still operated in losses, Mysteel Global noted.
Nevertheless, the decline in daily discharge volume narrowed over July 22-28 compared to the prior two weeks, as some mills in East and South China had resumed their blast furnaces and made some procurement of ore to meet their production needs, a market source shared.
On the other hand, Mysteel's shipment tracking showed that new iron ore arrivals at these 45 ports eased by 1.4 million tonnes or 6.2% on week to 20.5 million tonnes over July 18-24.
Among the total, stocks of both Australian and Brazilian ore increased to their respective highs since May 27, with the former up for the fifth week by 456,000 tonnes on week to 62.1 million tonnes, and the latter rising to 45.2 million tonnes after the fourth on-week gain by 2.2%.
By product, stocks of lump and concentrates thinned by 8,000 tonnes and 19,000 tonnes to 19.4 million tonnes and 8.8 million tonnes respectively. Conversely, pellets grew by 206,900 tonnes or 3.7% on week to 5.8 million tonnes – a new high since January 2021.
By ownership, the tonnage held by Chinese traders increased to a two-month high of 79 million tonnes, being 1.5 million tonnes or 1.9% higher on week, though the proportion of the total dropped by 0.4 percentage point on week to 58.4%.
Source:Mysteel Global
