BHP's Jimblebar iron-ore stocks in China hit near two-month low after ban reprieve, traders say
Inventories of BHP's Jimblebar fines, a type of iron-ore, at some Chinese ports slid to a near two-month low after steelmakers rushed to take delivery during a one-week ban reprieve, according to traders.
Jimblebar fines stocks at 15 major Chinese ports fell 6% week-on-week to 8.9-million tons as of March 24, the lowest level since late January, four traders with knowledge of the matter said.
That represents the steepest weekly fall since March 2025, one of the traders said.
The sources requested anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
China Mineral Resources Group (CMRG), the state-run iron ore buyer, told domestic steelmakers on March 13 that they could deliver Jimblebar fines from ports to plants for one week, shortly after it widened bans to another BHP iron-ore product, Newman fines.
Stocks of BHP's Jimblebar fines started to pile up after CMRG ordered Chinese steelmakers and traders last September not to buy the brand as it held talks with the miner on 2026 supply contract. Steelmakers could not take delivery of their Jimblebar fines unloaded at ports.
Traders were excluded from the latest partial ban reprieve.
CMRG was set up in 2022 to centralise iron-ore purchasing in the world's largest consumer of the steelmaking ingredient and win better terms from miners.
Despite a sharp weekly fall, the Jimblebar fines inventories at the 15 Chinese ports were still 406% higher than late-September levels, according to Reuters calculations based on data from the traders.
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