As of February 17, inventory of iron ore at 25 major Chinese ports amounted to 99.93 million mt, indicating an increase of 7.56 million mt or 8.18 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 122 points, down one point from one week earlier. Meanwhile, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 58 percent iron content was at 110 points on the date in question, down two points week on week.
As of February 17, prices of imported iron ore in the Chinese market indicated a further decline on week-on-week basis as buyers adopted a wait-and-see stance. However, influenced by the uptrend in the Chinese finished steel market, prices of imported iron ore started to increase slightly in the second half of the week in question and trading activity rebounded somewhat. By the end of the given week, prices of imported iron ore in the spot market were moving sideways as traders intended to keep their prices firm due to support from the recovery in the iron ore futures market. Overall, it is thought that import iron ore prices in China will likely trend sideways in the coming week considering that the purchasing activities of mills have not yet improved significantly.