Mysteel is reporting that Brazil had a slight uptick in shipments last week. However China's port inventories continued to tighten, as Australian shipments declined and demand stayed strong. Port inventories at 45 ports in China decreased by 1.4Mt or 1.3% (week on week) for the week 22nd-28th, to 107.85 Mt, a 43 month low. This was the 6th consecutive weekly decrease, according to Mysteel.

https://www.mysteel.net/article/5016067-050102/WEEKLY--Chinas-iron-ore-port-stocks-slide-to-43-m-low.html

This imbalance pushed the September DCE contract higher. In my view, the slight week on week uptick from Brazil of 0.16% ( to 21.9Mt per month) was probably due to stored supplies from the recently reopened TRMT being released. TRMT holds 3.2Mt in 5 yards and has been closed since March 24th, re-opening only 2 weeks ago.

Meanwhile, last week, blast furnace utilisation in China also surged for the 11th straight week- hitting 91.4%. No signs of slowing down.

https://www.mysteel.net/article/5016065-050102/WEEKLY--Chinas-blast-furnace-capacity-use-hits-914.html

Mysteel reportFriday May 29

DCE touches year’s high on renewed supply concern.

The most traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) hit the year’s high of yuan 752/ dmt ($105.3 /dmt) at the close of daytime trading on May 29^th on the renewed concern on market tightness as the countries steel output has been robust so far, according to market sources.

The market closed Yuan 45.5/dmt or 6.4% higher from Thursday’s settlement price, according to the DCE data. Most Chinese steelmakers have maintained high output, and yet steel inventories have been declining, indicating that domestic demand is real and solid, which undoubtedly has lent support to iron ore demand and prices.”

https://www.mysteel.net/article/5016083-050102/DCE-iron-ore-touches-years-high-on-renewed-supply-concern.html

5/18/2020

Vale updates on the Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal

Vale informs that it resumed the loading operations at its distribution center in Malaysia, the Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal (TRMT), on May 16th, 2020. The TRMT operations were halted on March 24th, 2020 based on the temporarily inability to secure the minimum resources to operate the terminal amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, Vale and authorities have been assessing the pandemic development in the region and making sure adequate Health and Safety protocols are in place. Hence, essential resources to safely operate the TMRT have been granted. In the last two weeks, maintenance has been carried out at the TRMT to ensure a safe return to operations.

The TRMT was responsible for distributing 23.7 Mt of Iron Ore in 2019. Despite of the lack of impacts from the halting on Vale's 2020 iron ore production guidance of 310-330 million tons, the resumption improves Vale's operational flexibility and strengthen its value chain. The resumption follows Vale's commitment to the safety of its people and the communities in locations where the company operates.

http://www.vale.com/EN/aboutvale/news/Pages/Vale-updates-on-the-Teluk-Rubiah-Maritime-Terminal2.aspx

Vale's recently reopened TRMT blending facility in Malaysia.