BI-WEEKLY: China mines’ iron ore stocks refresh 2-yr low

Iron ore concentrate stocks among the 186 Chinese mining companies under Mysteel's regular survey continued to slip over June 4-17 to reach 1.2 million tonnes, refreshing a two-year low. The decline of 28,800 tonnes or 2.3% over the two weeks reflected the Chinese mills’ robust demand, survey respondents said, though the daily output of those fines at the same miners edged down over the survey period.

“Over the past two weeks, the mills’demand for domestic iron ore improved to some extent, partly as they had procured some quantities to maintain smooth production during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday weekend (over June 12-14),”according to a Shanghai-based analyst. Meanwhile, “increasing numbers of mills from Shanxi (in North China)