Currently, iron ore futures prices continue to fluctuate upwards. The most traded contract I2505 finally closed on 803 yuan/mt, up 0.69% for the day. Only a few offers were made by traders. Steel mills had completed restocking before the holiday, so demand was limited. Market transactions are very minimal today. In Shandong, the main transaction price for PB fines was 790-793 yuan/mt, up 0-3 yuan/mt compared with yesterday. In Tangshan, PB fines traded around 815 yuan/mt, steady at a high level compared to yesterday. As of January 24, SMM data showed total inventory at 35 ports was 145.28 million mt, down 1.58 million mt WoW but up 20.66 million mt YoY. Average daily port cargo offtake volume for imported ore was 3.194 million mt, down 18,000 mt WoW but up 260,000 mt YoY. This week, arrivals at the port experienced a significant decline. In addition, due to the slow pace of steel mill restocking before Chinese New Year, the port picking volume showed a slight downward trend. Looking ahead to next week, port inventories are expected to increase slightly. However, market transactions have essentially been completed, with limited impact on prices. In the short term, considering healthy fundamentals and positive macro factors, ore prices are expected to continue fluctuating upwards.
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Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)
