WEEKLY: China's iron ore port stocks decline slightly

Inventories of imported iron ore stockpiled at China's 47 major ports under Mysteel's regular tracking fell by 1.3 million tonnes or 0.7% on week to 178.1 million tonnes as of March 19, according to the latest survey results. This marked the end of a three-week increase, but the portside stocks remained 19.4% higher than the year-ago level.

The recent decline mainly reflected falling arrivals and growing outflow observed at the surveyed ports, Mysteel Global notes. During March 9-15, the volume of new iron ore arrivals at these 47 ports slipped by 3.8 million tonnes or 14.1% on week to 23.2 million tonnes. In tandem, the number