Iron ore inventories at the 33 major Chinese seaports monitored by Xinhua edged up 2.08 percent week on week to 91.87 million metric tons (tonnes) as of January 11, 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 fell 2 points from a week before to 41 by January 11, and the index for iron ore imports of 58 percent purity grade went down 2 points week on week to 37.
After a slight increase at the end of 2015, prices of the imported iron ore saw a soft performance in the period of January 5-11. With the approach of the Spring Festival holiday, demand for steel products became weak on the domestic market.
In addition, small and medium-sized steel mills continued the production suspension. Given the weak fundamentals, prices of the imported iron ore will be under pressure in 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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