As of August 13, iron ore inventories across 35 ports tracked by SMM totaled 118.65 million mt, up 200,000 mt from the previous week and 13.67 million mt year-on-year. Daily average deliveries from the 35 ports increased 141,000 mt on a weekly basis to 2.74 million mt this week. Arrivals at two major ports in Shandong soared by 60.7% to 6.3 million mt, and arrivals at two major ports in Tangshan surged by 51% to 4.32 million mt. Port operations have gradually recovered. Deliveries from some ports in the Yangtze River region and south China continued to increase as lower iron ore prices attracted steel mills who are not subject to production restrictions to purchase. Daily average deliveries from ports are unlikely to pick up substantially as steel mills will continue to restock as needed. As steel mills forced lower prices, some traders made further concessions in order to make deals. PBF was closed at 1120-1130yuan/mt in Shandong market and in Tangshan market, the price was 1122-1130yuan/mt, dropped by 20- 30yuan/mt over yesterday. However, as majority steel mills have finished their weekly procurements, total transactions reduced clearly.

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMi)