Sources indicated on 23 October 2026 that total iron ore inventory across 35 main Chinese ports stood at 147.75 million tonnes, down 750,000 tonnes month on month, while the daily average port pick-up volume rose by 25,000 tonnes to 3.21 million tonnes.
The figures, drawn from SMM data and published by reports, show an overall slight downtrend in inventory across the monitored ports as of 23 October 2026.
Daily port take-up, meanwhile, recorded a marginal increase, with the average pick-up rate moving to 3.21 million tonnes per day, reflecting a rise of 25,000 tonnes compared with the prior month.
Inventory snapshot
The dataset referenced covers 35 principal iron ore handling ports in China and places total stock at 147.75 million tonnes on the reporting date of 23 October 2026, down 750,000 tonnes from the previous month, indicating modest depletion across the aggregated terminals.
This aggregated inventory figure and its month-on-month change are presented in the SMM compilation cited by the reports item published on 23 October 2026.
Port pick-up and short-term movement
Average daily port pick-up rose slightly to 3.21 million tonnes, an increase of 25,000 tonnes month on month, according to the same SMM-derived dataset referenced in The report.
Taken together, the published numbers portray a market where stocks have edged down while throughput at the quayside has firmed marginally, based on the data snapshot of 23 October 2026.
The report confines its measurements to the 35 main ports included in the SMM tracking and does not extend to inventories held inland or to broader supply-chain buffers beyond those berths.
Readers should note that the summary and figures presented originate from the SMM dataset as reported on 23 October 2026 and reflect conditions captured at that date.
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