Iron ore inventories at the 33 major Chinese seaports monitored by Xinhua edged up 2.88 percent week on week to 85.82 million metric tons (tonnes) as of November 30, 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 was down 1 point from a week before to 44 by November 30; and the index for iron ore imports of 58 percent purity grade also fell 1 point week on week to 40. During the period of November 24-30, prices of the iron ore imports continued a downtrend.
Due to falling steel prices and expanding scope of steel mills' production suspension and restriction, market participants were bearish, leading to a continuous fall in the iron ore prices. Entering the off-season for steel consumption, domestic steel mills reduced steel output and stocks of the raw materials.
Meanwhile, the iron ore supplies were still on a rise. Under such circumstances, prices of imported iron ore are expected to continue the downtrend in the near term, 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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