Iron ore inventories at the 33 major Chinese seaports monitored fell 5.28 percent week on week to 77.27 million metric tons (tonnes) as of October 12, according to the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index (Xinhua-China IOP Index) released on Tuesday.
The index, compiled through research and analysis of 33 selected major seaports, shows that the price index for iron ore imports of 62 percent purity grade declined 1 point from a week before to 56 by October 12; and the index for iron ore imports of 58 percent purity grade was unchanged from a week before to 51. Prices of imported iron ore showed a V-shape during the period from September 29 to October 12.
Before the week-long National Day holiday (October 1-7), buyers were prudent about purchases and tried to depress the price. In the second half of the period, affected by weather, imported iron ore resources at the domestic sea ports declined obviously, helping push up the ore prices. Despite a recent rebound in prices of ferrous metal futures, traders were still cautious about the outlook for the ore and the spot market remained sluggish. Given the weak demand from the downstream sectors, prices of the iron ore imports will likely maintain weak in the long run, said analysts.
Developed by Xinhua News Agency, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index (Xinhua-China IOP Index) is released every Tuesday on the Xinhua08 platform. The index closely tracks changes of the country's iron ore market on the basis of in-depth surveys of China's major sea ports, iron ore traders, and steel makers, as well as analysis of Customs statistics, and serves as a reference indicator that is able to reflect changes in iron ore stocks in China.
The original data was collected via the global data and information collection network of Xinhua and put together with comments from industry experts in the iron and steel production, wholesale, and retail sectors.
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