According to data tracked by SMM, 76 ships arrived at domestic main ports during September 6-13. Arrivals of cargoes are estimated to stand at 12.56 million mt, up 3.08 million mt from the previous week, but down 2.08 million mt year on year. Shipments that departed Australian ports were estimated to increase 210,000 mt week on week and 1.45 million mt on the year to 17.47 million mt, and that from Brazilian ports decreased 250,000 mt on the week and 2.8 million mt to 5.87 million mt on the year. Iron ore arrivals rebounded after the decline in the previous two weeks, while the output of molten iron kept falling. The fundamentals of iron ore stood weak and weighed on iron ore prices. DCE iron ore futures continued to decrease slightly today, the spot quotation decreased by around 35-40yuan/mt over yesterday. Some traders sell today with a quite pessimistic mind due to decreasing price. Steel mills tend to buy actively due to some of them would like to buy with current low price. PBF at Shandong port dealt 910-915yuan/mt, down by 10-15yuan/mt; PBF at Tangshan port dealt 960-990yuan/mt, down 10-40yuan/mt over yesterday.

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMi)