According to Xinhua-China iron ore price index recently, the domestic imported iron ore stockpiles in Chinese 25 main ports reached 99.50 million metric tons on February 20, dropping by 0.47 million metric tons compared to previous week. At the same time, the price index for imported 63.5% iron ore was roughly 144, down four units compared to prior week. Meanwhile, the prices for 58% iron ore also decreased by three units from previous week to 122.
Impacted by the slack domestic steel market, mills have taken measures to either curtail or suspend the iron ore procurement plans. Meanwhile, at present, there are signs indicating that the prices in the international iron ore market have softened gradually vs previous time. In this context, the domestic iron ore prices may continue rolling back softly in the short term.