Iron ore inventories at the 33 major Chinese seaports monitored edged up 1.33 percent week on week to 77.75 million metric tons (tonnes) as of September 14, 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 went up 2 points from a week before to 59 by September 14; and the index for iron ore imports of 58 percent purity grade increased 2 points to 53. Prices of imported iron ore increased obviously in September 8-14.
Driven by the rising iron ore futures traded on Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) during the period, prices of forward spot iron ores also increased with good transactions. However, with ore prices rising, steel mills weakened their willingness to purchase more. At present, prices of mainstream iron ore imports have increased to 59 US dollars/tonne.
However, the sluggish steel prices on the domestic market forced steel mills to reduce purchases of raw materials. Under such circumstances, prices of iron ore imports are expected to be volatile 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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