China iron ore port stockpile up 1.11 pct

The iron ore stockpile in China's 25 major seaports rose 1.11 percent as of March 31 compared to a week earlier, according to an index compiled by Xinhua Tuesday.

Iron ore inventories at the 25 ports rose by 1.17 million tonnes to 107.03 million tonnes, according to the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index (Xinhua-China IOP Index).

The price index for iron ore imports of 62-percent-purity-grade rose 2 from the previous week to 111 by March 31, and the index for iron ore imports of 58-percent-purity-grade rose 3 to 100.

The market rebounded slightly during the past week with a higher trade volume, according to the index report.

Mainly thanks to an improving iron and steel market and sharp increases in iron ore futures, more enquiries were made at the seaports about the spot prices of imported iron ore last week, said the report.

The index closely tracks changes of the country's iron ore market on the basis of in-depth surveys of China's major seaports, iron ore traders, and steel makers, as well as analysis of Customs statistics.

The original data was collected via the global data and information collection network of Xinhua and put together with comments from industry experts in the iron and steel production, wholesale, and retail sectors.