On August 2, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 118.64 million mt, up 0.24 percent compared to July 26, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
During the given week, import iron ore prices have continued their decreasing trend amid the weakening of demand from China and the more bearish outlook for the future. There were decreasing volumes of iron ore arriving in the Chinese market. The capacity utilization rates of blast furnaces were lower than in the previous ten days, while weak demand is likely to continue for some time and will exert a negative impact on iron ore prices.
Nevertheless, China’s central government has eased its emphasis on excessive reductions in carbon emissions, and so market players think steelmakers’ outputs may increase in the near future, which will bolster iron ore prices.