As of December 7, total iron ore inventory at thirty major ports in China amounted to 77.83 million mt, declining by 2.83 million mt week on week - the sixth consecutive week-on-week decrease - and down 19.07 million mt year on year, as announced by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Accordingly, the total iron ore inventory at the ports in question has declined below 80 million mt for the first time since April 2011 and has fallen to its lowest level since January of the same year.
In the week ending December 7, total inventory of iron ore from India at the 30 major Chinese ports in question declined to 3.35 million mt, and total iron ore inventory of Brazilian origin remained under 20 million mt for the third week in a row. As of December 7, inventory of iron ore from Brazil, India and Australia at Chinese ports indicated respective decreases of 520,000 mt, 350,000 mt and 1,570,000 mt, all week on week. The total iron ore inventory at Chinese ports from the three countries in question has fallen below 60 million mt for the first time since January 2011, now accounting for a share of less than 75 percent of overall iron ore inventory at Chinese ports.