As of April 1, inventory of iron ore at 25 major Chinese ports amounted to 73.21 million mt, up 620,000 mt or 0.85 percent on week-on-week basis, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
As of April 1, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 63.5 percent iron content was at 135 points, up four points week on week, Meanwhile, the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index for imported iron ore with 58 percent iron content was at 119 points on the given date, also up four points week on week.
Economists at Xinhua News Agency state that last week (March 26-April 1) the Chinese iron ore import market indicated a general slight uptrend, although a downtrend started to emerge late in the week after the increase.
In the given week, traders generally maintained a firm stance on iron ore prices due to the tight market availability. Meanwhile, iron ore spot prices also received a boost from the slight rebound in the iron ore futures market.
Considering higher finished steel inventory and the weak trend of the finished steel futures, construction steel and semi-finished steel markets, Chinese mills have maintained a cautious approach to iron ore purchases and market activity has not indicated any obvious improvement. Therefore, a wait-and-see attitude still prevailed.
Inventory of iron ore at Chinese ports halted their decrease and witnessed an upturn due to arrivals of certain volumes of iron ore in late March.
The situation of tight import iron ore availability and traders' reduced interest in concluding sales provided support for import iron ore prices. However, the increase in import iron ore prices was negatively impacted by the unfavorable situation regarding finished steel demand and the sharp decline in rebar futures prices.
China's iron ore import prices are currently caught between upward and downward pressures, and so it is thought the prices may follow a sideways trend in the short term.
