On January 3, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 146.95 million mt, up 1.16 percent compared to December 29, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
During the given week, import iron ore prices declined slightly, but fluctuated just slightly below $120/mt CFR. Steelmakers’ blast furnace capacity utilization rates and outputs rose slightly, providing some support for iron ore prices. However, import iron ore prices were higher than market players’ expectations. It is thought that import iron ore prices may move down in the coming week.