As of January 6, inventory of iron ore at 25 major Chinese ports amounted to 85.43 million mt, indicating an increase of 1.233 million mt or 1.46 percent week on week, 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 135 points, up two points from one week earlier. Meanwhile, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 58 percent iron content was at 122 points on the date in question, also up two points week on week.
Due to the New Year holiday in the given week, a wait-and-see mood prevailed in China's import iron ore market in the early part of the week. After the New Year holiday, the tightness of liquidity on the mills' side eased as banks started to give credit, while traders in the import iron ore market became a little more optimistic as they believed steel mills would start to replenish stocks without liquidity concerns. In this context, iron ore prices have trended up in the post-holiday market.
However, steel mills have mostly been purchasing just in line with their needs. At the same time, oversupply may also appear in the iron ore market due to overcapacity and weakened demand in the downstream market. Currently, due to the cold weather and the traditional off-season, market players are still generally pessimistic on the future prospects for the iron ore market. Moreover, with volumes of iron ore shipped by mining companies increasing, pressure from iron ore inventories is expected to become stronger. It is thought that import iron ore prices in China will decline slightly in the coming week.