Iron ore inventories at the 33 major Chinese seaports monitored edged down 0.66 percent week on week to 83.42 million metric tons (tonnes) as of November 23, 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 2 points from a week before to 45 by November 23; and the index for iron ore imports of 58 percent purity grade also fell 2 points week on week to 41.
During the period of November 17-23, prices of the iron ore imports showed an obvious downtrend. Affected by the soft iron ore futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), the iron ore price on the spot market was also under pressure. In the period, the domestic steel prices continued a downtrend.
Despite Baosteel's policy to keep prices of some steels for December bookings unchanged from a month before, it would have little effects on the steel market. Given the lackluster demand from the downstream sectors, prices of the imported iron ore are expected to continue falling 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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