On May 10, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 120.69 million mt, down 4.38 million mt or 3.5 percent compared to April 26, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
During the given period, import iron ore prices have risen sharply amid surging steel prices, declining deliveries in the global market, and increasing capacity utilization rates of blast furnaces and converters in China. Steelmakers’ profitability has been good and so they have been eager to produce and their demand for iron ore has improved. At the same time, ferrous metal futures prices have risen sharply, pushing up iron ore prices amid speculation. It is expected that import iron ore prices may rise further in the short term, though the relevant government departments have started to pay close attention to the sharp rises in iron ore prices and could act to curb its rapid increases in the longer term.