As of December 17, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 62 percent iron content was at 71 points, up 4 points compared to December 10. Meanwhile, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 58 percent iron content was at 62 points on the date in question, up 2 points over the same period, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
During the given week, following previous downtrend in import iron ore prices, their prices have been at bottom level. Meanwhile, Chinese currency has appreciated due to the improvement in Sino-US relationship, which exerted a positive impact on importing iron ore. However, steelmakers have been unwilling to build up stock of iron ore due to declining capacity utilization rate against the background of slack demand. It is expected that import iron ore prices in the Chinese market will move sideways in the coming week.