The iron ore inventories at the 33 major Chinese seaports monitored edged up 0.46 percent week on week to 78.37 million metric tons (tonnes) as of July 6, 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 6 points from a week before to 55 by July 6; and the index for iron ore imports of 58 percent purity grade dropped 4 points to 51.
In the period of June 30-July 6, prices of imported iron ore continued a downtrend amid the fall in spot and futures prices. With the arrival of lots of mainstream ores at the seaports, the supply pressure increased accordingly, leading to the fall in prices. As many steelmakers overhauled facilities, demands for the steelmaking ingredient shrunk further. Under such circumstances, prices of imported iron ore were likely 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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