According to SMM survey, on 23 April, the total inventory across the 10 ports in China tracked by SMM stood at 114.32 million tonnes, marking a week-on-week decrease of 1.16 million tonnes. During this period, coarse fines, lump ore, and pellets experienced minor destocking, while concentrates saw a slight accumulation.

According to an SMM survey on April 2, total iron ore inventory across the 10 major ports tracked by SMM stood at 119.31 million tonnes, marking a week-on-week increase of 190,000 tonnes. Inventories of coarse fines and concentrates accumulated slightly, while lump ore and pellets experienced slight destocking.

This week, ferrous metals rebounded from the bottom. At the start of the week, coking coal and coke led the futures higher, mainly driven by rising crude oil prices in the overseas market, which pushed the energy and chemicals sector stronger accordingly; mid-week, both the U.S. and Iran signaled a more relaxed stance toward war, easing geopolitical tensions, while coal prices fell in tandem, weakening the cost-side logic, and ferrous metals fluctuated at highs; in the latter half of the week, worsening short-term liquidity issues in BHP's iron ore port inventory triggered stronger iron ore prices in the overseas market, while the Middle East situation remained volatile, reinforcing cost support and pushing ferrous metals higher again. In the spot market, supported by futures, end-user and arbitrage purchase sentiment both improved WoW this week......

As of June 6, SMM data showed that the total inventory at 35 ports was 136.09 million mt, a decrease of 150,000 mt WoW. The daily average imported ore port pick-up volume was 3.016 million mt, a decrease of 101,000 mt WoW. Recently, vessel congestion has been observed in some regions, leading to a slight decline in the overall imported ore port arrivals and a gradual reduction in port inventory. Looking ahead to next week, it is expected that port arrivals will gradually return to normal. Additionally, with a slight downward trend in pig iron production of steel mill blast furnaces, the port pick-up volume may continue to decline, and there is a possibility of a slight increase in overall port inventory.

As of May 23, according to SMM data, the total inventory at 35 ports was 137.73 million mt, a decrease of 1.67 million mt WoW. The daily average port pick-up volume of imported ore was 3.138 million mt, an increase of 43,000 mt WoW. Recently, the volume of port arrivals has shown a downward trend, but port cargo pick-up has improved. Pig iron production at blast furnaces in steel mills remains at a relatively high level, still providing certain support for the demand for iron ore concentrates. Therefore, the port pick-up volume has increased. Overall, port inventory has experienced destocking this week. Looking ahead to next week, it is expected that port arrivals will remain at a low level, and overall port inventory may continue to decrease.

As of April 25, SMM data showed that the total inventory of 35 ports was 139.94 million mt, an increase of 2.1 million mt WoW. The daily average port pick-up volume of imported ore was 3.15 million mt, up 165,000 mt WoW. On the port arrivals side, weather conditions improved, and arrivals remained at a high level. According to the latest SMM tracking data, pig iron production at steel mill blast furnaces continued to rise, driving port pick-up volume higher. Overall, due to the impact of high port arrivals, total port inventory was in an accumulation state. Looking ahead to next week, considering the impact of restocking before the Labour Day holiday, port pick-up volume may continue to rise, and port inventory may experience slight destocking.