China's iron ore stocks rise 2 pct on high output

SHANGHAI, April 20 (Reuters) - Iron ore stocks at China's major ports rose 2 percent to 73.98 million tonnes in the week to April 10, Chinica Shipbrokers Ltd said in a report, as ore imports surged on high steel production in the country.

China, the world's largest steel-producing nation, generated 45.1 million tonnes of crude steel in March, translating to annual production of about 530 million tonnes, despite projections by the industry group and the central government for output of about 460 million tonnes this year.

Iron stocks at China's largest iron ore port Qingdao remained unchanged from a week earlier, while inventories at rival Rizhao Port increased 500,000 tonnes, Chinica said.

Chinese mills are still in annual iron ore price negotiations with mining majors, including BHP Billiton (BHP.AX)(BLT.L), Rio Tinto (RIO.AX)(RIO.L) and Vale (VALE5.SA).

Port congestion at major hubs remained serious as heavy stockpiles hindered railway transportation, leaving vessels to wait as long as two weeks to discharge at the ports of Qingdao and Rizhao, Chinica said in the report.

Here is a table of iron ore stocks:

STOCKS CHANGE ON WEEK

MLN TONNES TONNES PCT CHANGE APRIL 17 73.98 1,534,000 2 APRIL 10 72.45 -100,000 -0.1 APRIL 3 72.55 1,033,000 1 MARCH 27 71.52 1,980,000 3 MARCH 20 69.54 1,053,000 2 MARCH 13 64.52 1,994,000 3 MARCH 6 62.53 3,397,000 6 FEB 27 59.13 827,000 1 FEB 19 58.30 174,000 0.3 FEB 13 58.13 -2,028,000 -3 FEB 6 60.16 210,000 0.4 JAN 23 59.95 -1,214,000 -2 JAN 16 61.16 -648,000 -1 JAN 9 61.81 -812,000 -1 DEC 26 62.62 310,000 0.5 (Reporting by Alfred Cang and Jacqueline Wong; Editing by Chris Lewis)