Iron ore inventories at the 33 major Chinese seaports monitored by Xinhua edged down 0.45 percent week on week to 90 million metric tons (tonnes) as of January 4, 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 increased 3 points from a week before to 43 by January 4, and the index for iron ore imports of 58 percent purity grade went up 3 points week on week to 39.
During the period from December 29 to January 4, prices of imported iron ore increased obviously amid buyers' rising enthusiasm for purchasing. In the period, prices of steel products on the domestic spot market remained robust as majority of steel mills saw an obvious decline in inventories. So far, the supply-demand situation in the iron ore market has not changed obviously. After the hike in prices of iron ore imports, market participants' intention to avoid high-price ore has increased. Therefore, enthusiasm for ore purchasing before the Spring Festival holiday is expected to be moderate. Given this, driving forces for ore price hike will be insufficient and the imported iron ore prices are expected to fluctuate above the 40 U.S. dollars/tonne, 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.
Latest comments