On October 18, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 129.97 million mt, up 3.74 percent compared to October 11, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
During the given week, import iron ore prices decreased amid slightly increased volumes of iron ore arriving in the market, while demand was not very good. Steel production capacity utilization rates rose slightly amid the easing of power supply limitations, but mills were not actively building up their ore stocks. Restrictions on energy consumption will continue, which will reduce steel output and weaken the demand for iron ore in the future. It is expected that import iron ore prices in China may edge down further in the coming week.