The imported iron ore throughput at Rizhao port has risen 12 percent in February both on YoY and MoM comparison and the handling tonnage remains at a healthy level so far.
Ore import throughputs has surged since January up 122.3% from the month before but still down 1% from the same time of last month.
Iron ore demand has revived in January to February leading to a swift reduction on ore imports stockpiles at major coastal ports in China. However, the growth has slowed from late Feb.
Domestic steel price slide has extended into the third week, and further price decline may force smaller mills to cut back production again. That could result in mounting ore stock at the ports. Hopefully, steel demand would pick up as Beijing's CNY 4 trillion stimulus package is in place. And metallic ore throughput tonnage is expected to turn around too.
According to analyst Mr Zhou Jingjing with Shenyin Wanguo Securities "There is a time lag of over 20 days for ore stockpiles to fall after steel mills scale back output and slash ore imports purchase. Therefore, new arrivals of ore imports are likely to fall in middle or late March. Whether ore stock or import volume would rise again depends on how the government investment works in days to come."
Source: Steel Guru
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