On April 18, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 130.17 million mt, down 8.48 percent compared to April 11, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
During the given week, import iron ore prices edged up slightly amid declining inventory levels at steelmakers and the slight rise in iron ore volumes arriving at ports.
Currently, steelmakers’ capacity utilization rates and outputs are up slightly. However, the profitability of steel has shrunk to its lowest level in the past five years, resulting in some steelmakers starting to reduce their outputs of crude steel. Accordingly, the demand for iron ore is unlikely to improve significantly. It is thought that import iron ore prices may soften in the coming week.