SMM data showed that a total of 62 ships arrived at major ports in China from March 21 to March 27, carrying 9.72 million mt of iron ore, down 1.03 million mt on a weekly basis and 2.04 million mt from a year ago.

In the same period, shipments from Australia were 18.07 million mt, up 820,000 mt week-on-week and 1.29 million mt YoY; shipments from Brazil were 6.33 million mt, up 1.66 million mt week-on-week, but down 110,000 mt YoY.

The decline in port arrivals was due to the negative impact of bad weather and port maintenance on the shipments earlier. However, shipments from Australia and Brazil have gradually picked up. The port inventory in China is still high at around 150 million mt.

Affected by the pandemic recently, the demand for iron ore has been suppressed, and the iron ore prices are expected to fluctuate downwards in the short term.
Source: SMM Information & Technology Co