China’s iron ore stocks at 25 coastal ports were 93.07 million tons on May 30, an increase of 0.66 percent over a week earlier, according to the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index released on Tuesday. The price index of imported iron ore with 63.5 percent Fe content was 179, down five units, while that of iron ore grading 58 percent was 147, down six units.

The quotations of Indian fines were down $5 during the week ended on May 30, contributing to an accumulated fall of $10 since the beginning of May. A number of steel mills have held back from buying new purchases as they have enough material in their warehouses to see them through to July. The overall transaction volumes were extremely low. Cheaper homemade iron ore with a more flexible means of payment has increasingly become an alternative to the imported materials that experts say may encounter a period of de-stocking.