As of May 19, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 112.87 million mt, up 3.5 million mt or 2.93 percent compared to the inventory level recorded on May 12, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
As of the same date, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 62 percent iron content was at 100 points, down three points from one week earlier. Meanwhile, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 58 percent iron content was at 87 points on the date in question, down four points week on week.
During the given week (May 13-19), affected by declines in the finished steel market, imported iron ore prices continued their downward movement. At the beginning of the week, iron ore futures saw a slight rebound, while iron ore prices in the spot market did not follow this rising trend due to the lack of improvement in demand. In the latter part of the week, the overseas mining giants cut their ex-works prices for iron ore, negatively impacting import iron ore prices for China. Meanwhile, Chinese steelmakers have been purchasing only in line with their needs, while some iron ore traders lowered their selling prices in order to increase sales and bring in funds. It is expected that prices of imported iron ore will continue their downtrend in the coming week.