WEEKLY: Chinese steel mills' imported iron ore stocks slip further

Chinese steelmakers' buying interest in imported iron ore has softened recently as mounting operational losses prompted more mills to curtail their purchases of this key steelmaking ingredient, leading to a further decline in their in-plant iron ore stocks, Mysteel's latest survey showed.

By August 26, total stocks of imported iron ore sintering fines held by the 64 Chinese blast-furnace (BF) steel mills under Mysteel's tracking fell for the second consecutive week to sit at 13.44 million tonnes, down 93,300 tonnes or 0.7% from the previous week. The majority of domestic steelmakers continued