WEEKLY: China's IO port stocks ease 7th week to 140 m t

As of May 12, the total volume of iron ore discharged daily from these 45 ports increased to an average of 3.2 million tonnes/day, hitting a new high since late January after the second on-week rise by 56,400 t/d or 1.8%.

The increment reflected some steelmakers' modestly-improved willingness to haul iron ore from ports due to the further easing in COVID-related lockdowns and their restocking needs after China's Labour Day holiday ended on May 4, Mysteel Global noted.

On the other hand, about 21.2 million tonnes of iron ore arrived at the 45 ports over May 2-8, or having recovered after the prior week's decline albeit by just 45,000 tonnes on week, according to Mysteel's other shipments survey.

By product, lump stocks hit the lowest level since August 2 2019, down for the sixth week by 214,400 tonnes or 1.2% on week to 17.2 million tonnes. In contrast, pellets rebounded by 191,200 tonnes or 3.7% on week to 5.4 million tonnes after a two-week dip, and concentrates rose for the second week by 3,000 tonnes on week to 10.5 million tonnes.

By origin, Australian and Brazilian ore continued to hover at their respective lows since last October, with the former falling for the 10th week by another 2.5 million tonnes or 3.7% on week to 65 million tonnes, and the latter down for the seventh week by 97,000 tonnes on week to 46.6 million tonnes.

By ownership, the tonnage belonging to Chinese traders dropped to 79.9 million tonnes as of May 11, down for the seventh week by 2.5 million tonnes or 3.1% on week. The traders' stocks accounted for 57.1% of the total, or 0.5 percentage point lower on week.

Written by Lea Li, liye@mysteel.com

Edited by Zhenqi Yang, yangzhenqi@mysteel.com