SMM

Looking into January, with the end of overseas mines’ production rush, global shipments will gradually fall back. But port arrivals will remain high due to high shipping volume in the early stage. The overall supply will be abundant. On the demand side, with the end of the production limit, some steel mills will resume production, but the pace of the resumption will be slowed down by lingering environmental protection-related production limit and poor profit. Therefore, rising pig iron output will be slow. But meanwhile, most steel mills will stock up in January ahead of Chinese New Year. Under this circumstance, overall iron ore demand will still increase. Therefore, iron ore market may see ample supply and robust demand in January. Traditional lull terminal demand, sluggish finished product demand and loss of some steel mills will put a lid on iron ore price gains. Rising ore price may add to regulatory risks. It is expected that iron ore prices will fluctuate widely in January.