On May 25, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 91.13 million mt, down 4.27 million mt or 4.48 percent compared to May 18, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
In the May 19-25 period, import iron ore prices in China fluctuated within a limited range of $96-97.5/mt CFR. Iron ore shipments from Australia increased, while the iron ore arriving at Chinese ports also saw a rising trend. At the same time, steelmakers’ blast furnace capacity utilization rates and their steel outputs continued to rise, positively affecting demand for iron ore. Meanwhile, inventories of iron ore at ports and at steelmakers have been at relatively low levels, which supported iron ore prices.