As of August 22, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 102.51 million mt, up 940,000 mt or 0.92 percent compared to the inventory level recorded on August 15, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
As of the same date, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 62 percent iron content was at 61 points, remaining stable week on week. Meanwhile, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 58 percent iron content was at 51 points on the date in question, also remaining stable week on week.
In the given week, overall imported iron ore prices in China indicated slight fluctuations. In the first part of the given week, imported iron ore prices in China indicated a rising trend due to increases in finished steel prices and transaction activity was at decent levels. Meanwhile, towards the latter part of the given week, imported iron ore prices indicated a declining trend and traders mostly maintained a wait-and-see stance towards the iron ore market due to decreases in domestic finished steel prices, which exerted negative pressure on iron ore prices, resulting in low levels of transaction activity in the spot market.