Iron Ore Arrivals at Chinese Ports Increased Slightly, Shipments from Australia and Brazil surged

SMM data showed that a total of 70 ships arrived at major ports in China from March 14 to March 20, carrying 10.75 million mt of iron ore, up 470,000 mt on a weekly basis, but down 2.47 million mt from a year ago. In the same period, shipments from Australia were 17.25 million mt, up 1.14 million mt week-on-week and 3.01 million mt YoY; shipments from Brazil were 4.67 million mt, up 800,000 mt week-on-week, but down 1.28 million mt YoY.

Recently, the pandemic in China has worsened, especially in Shandong and Tangshan, the two main steel producing areas, where the production and transportation have been affected, which will curb the demand for iron ore in the short term and put downward pressure on iron ore prices.
Source: SMM