Iron ore inventories at the 33 major Chinese seaports monitored by Xinhua edged up 0.07 percent week on week to 90.41 million metric tons (tonnes) as of December 28, 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 unchanged from a week before to 40 by December 28, and the index for iron ore imports of 58 percent purity grade was also flat week on week at 36.
During the period of December 22-28, performances of imported iron ores were mixed. Prices of spot iron ores went up slightly due to tight supplies and most resources being held by large traders. By contrast, prices of ore forward contracts fell due to Western holidays.
At present, domestic steel mills have been still cautious about purchases of raw materials. Despite short-term limited supplies on the domestic spot market, driving force for the ore remains soft. Therefore, it will be difficult for ore price to increase sharply 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. 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 were 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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