As of May 27, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 62 percent iron content was at 108 points, up seven points compared to May 20, while the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 58 percent iron content was at 100 points on the date in question, up eight points over the same period, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency. In addition, on May 27 inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 110.53 million mt, down 2.65 percent week on week, according to the same source.
During the given week, Brazil’s National Mining Agency (ANM) on May 27 announced that the northern slope of Vale’s Soco mine located in the Congo was moving at a speed of 15.5 cm per day and could collapse at any time. This warning has raised market participants’ concerns regards iron ore supply in the coming period. Meanwhile, though the traditional peak season of March and April is over, there has recently been rapid growth in newly-started construction work in China, resulting in the high capacity utilization rates of domestic blast furnaces. Currently, import iron ore prices are at high levels, while iron ore shipments are unlikely to recover and demand from downstream users is not expected to continue at high levels. It is thought that import iron ore prices in the Chinese market will fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week, while in the long term import iron ore prices are expected to soften to more reasonable level, as stated by Xinhua News Agency.