As of September 14, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 77.75 million mt, up 1.02 million mt or 1.33 percent compared to the inventory level recorded on September 7, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency on September 15.
As of the same date, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 62 percent iron content was at 59 points, up two points week on week. Meanwhile, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 58 percent iron content was at 53 points on the date in question, also up two points week on week.
In the given week, imported iron ore prices indicated a distinct rising trend, with the overall transaction activity at decent levels. In the first part of the given week,due to the upward movement in iron ore futures prices, iron ore prices in the spot market rose significantly, with buyers’ purchase intention increasing largely and overall iron ore prices indicating continuous rising trend in the domestic market. However, with the continuous rising trend of iron ore prices, steel enterprises gradually weakened their purchase intention and held a wait-and-see attitude towards the market against the background of overall fluctuating trend in domestic steel market. In addition, due to the gradual resuming of steelmaking production in northern China after the military parade in Beijing, iron ore inventory continued to edge up at Chinese ports and demand from end-users did not see a significant improvement in the given week. It is thought that iron ore prices will likely follow a fluctuating trend in the coming period.