Iron Ore Information Weekly Report (January 17 - January 23)

From January 17th to January 23rd, overall, imported iron ore prices declined compared to the previous week.

On the supply side, iron ore arrivals at ports decreased month-on-month. Port iron ore inventories continued to increase compared to the previous week. The blast furnace operating rate of key enterprises continued to decline month-on-month.

From the spot market perspective, on January 23rd, statistics show that the price of 62% grade Australian iron ore fines at Qingdao Port decreased by 1.82% compared to January 16th; the price of 65% grade Carbide fines at Qingdao Port decreased by 1.44% compared to January 16th.

Domestic iron ore prices rose slightly month-on-month. On January 23rd, the price of 66% grade iron concentrate (dry basis) in Tangshan increased by 0.51% compared to January 16th.

Imported iron ore prices declined. On January 23, the price of imported iron ore with a 61% grade was $104.65/ton, a decrease of 1.41% compared to January 16. The average price from January 19 to January 23 was $103.86/ton. The price of imported iron ore with a 65% grade was $120.15/ton, a decrease of 1.23% compared to January 16. The average price from January 19 to January 23 was $119.36/ton. The price of imported iron ore with a 58% grade was $94.05/ton, a decrease of 1.52% compared to January 16. The average price from January 19 to January 23 was $93.53/ton.From the perspective of the global shipping market, on January 23, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) was 1762 points, an increase of 195 points week-on-week.

From the perspective of futures market trading, on January 23, the closing price of the main iron ore contract I2501 was 792.0 yuan/ton, a decrease of 20.0 yuan/ton.

On the supply side, according to statistics, from January 12 to January 18, the total iron ore arrivals at 47 ports in China were 28.977 million tons, a decrease of 1.173 million tons compared to the previous period; the total iron ore arrivals at six northern ports were 14.429 million tons, a decrease of 263,000 tons compared to the previous period. Global iron ore shipments totaled 29.298 million tons, a decrease of 2.511 million tons compared to the previous period. Total iron ore shipments from Australia and Brazil were 22.466 million tons, a decrease of 3.598 million tons compared to the previous period. Australian shipments were 16.88 million tons, a decrease of 2.436 million tons compared to the previous period, of which 13.897 million tons were shipped to China, a decrease of 2.624 million tons compared to the previous period. Brazilian iron ore shipments totaled 5.586 million tons, a decrease of 1.162 million tons compared to the previous period.

Regarding inventory, statistics show that as of January 23, the total imported iron ore inventory at 45 ports nationwide was 167.6653 million tons, an increase of 2.1143 million tons compared to the previous period; the average daily port throughput was 3.1073 million tons, a decrease of 91,600 tons compared to the previous period. The total imported iron ore inventory at 47 ports nationwide was 174.9653 million tons, an increase of 2.0783 million tons compared to the previous period; the average daily port throughput was 3.2052 million tons, a decrease of 145,000 tons compared to the previous period. In terms of volume, the total imported iron ore inventory from Australia was 77.7605 million tons, an increase of 1.9384 million tons compared to the previous period; the total imported iron ore inventory from Brazil was 60.9071 million tons, a decrease of 784,300 tons compared to the previous period; and the total traded ore inventory was 115.2784 million tons, an increase of 1.7499 million tons compared to the previous period.

On January 23, the freight rate from Port Hedland, Australia to Qingdao, China was US$7.85/ton, a decrease of US$0.01/ton compared to the previous week; the freight rate from Brazil to China was US$21.84/ton, a decrease of US$0.31/ton compared to the previous week.

On the demand side, as of the week ending January 16, social steel inventory was 8.6746 million tons, an increase of 21,400 tons compared to the previous week, and a decrease of 41,500 tons compared to the end of the previous month. The blast furnace operating rate of 247 steel mills was 78.68%, a decrease of 0.16 percentage points compared to the previous week, and an increase of 0.70 percentage points year-on-year.

According to the latest statistics from the China Iron and Steel Association, in mid-January, key steel enterprises produced a total of 19.79 million tons of steel, with an average daily output of 1.979 million tons, a decrease of 0.9% compared to the previous period; 17.94 million tons of pig iron were produced, with an average daily output of 1.794 million tons, an increase of 1.8% compared to the previous period; and 18.77 million tons of steel products were produced, with an average daily output of 1.877 million tons, an increase of 3.0% compared to the previous period.

Based on this, it is estimated that in mid-January, the national daily steel output was 2.44 million tons, a decrease of 1.7% compared to the previous period; the daily pig iron output was 2.16 million tons, an increase of 0.6% compared to the previous period; and the daily steel product output was 3.93 million tons, an increase of 1.5% compared to the previous period.