On December 14, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 104.62 million mt, down 2.25 million mt or 2.11 percent compared to December 7, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
During the given period, import iron ore prices in China moved up significantly, while iron ore shipments decreased amid berth maintenance works in Australia, while volumes of iron ore supplies arriving at Chinese ports decreased. Meanwhile, blast furnace capacity utilization rates of Chinese steelmakers and steel outputs declined slightly compared to the previous week. However, Chinese steelmakers have been active in producing due to good profit margins, which will provide support for iron ore prices. Following the big rises in iron ore prices recently, market players started to be more cautious as regards the future prospects for the iron ore market. It is expected that import iron ore prices will fluctuate within a limited range at current high levels.