On September 21, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 98.85 million mt, up 0.25 million mt or 0.25 percent compared to September 14, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
During the given week, import iron ore prices in China moved down sharply amid increasing shipments and rising volumes of iron ore supplies arriving at Chinese ports. Meanwhile, capacity utilization rates of Chinese steelmakers’ blast furnaces in northern China continued to move down amid strict production restrictions in Tangshan, which reduced the demand for import iron ore. However, since the long National Day holiday is approaching (October 1-8), steelmakers’ iron ore purchases have remained stable, which will likely prevent import iron ore prices from recording a further sharp drop in the near future.