After declining for almost one month, the price of the Brazilian iron ore increased in average by $2/mt to $3/mt from last week, reflecting higher prices in the Chinese spot market and stable ocean freight rates.
Sinter feed fines of 65 percent iron contents are now traded for export at $69/mt, lumps at $76/mt and blast furnace grade pellets at $105/mt, FOB conditions.
In the domestic market, the prices are now $64/mt for sinter feed fines, $71/mt for lumps and $100/mt for pellets, ex-works, no taxes included.
In December, Brazilian exports of iron ore (pellets excluded) reached 32.187 million mt, 10.6 percent more than in November.
The main destinations were Asia (27.093 million mt, of which 21.245 million mt to China), the EU (3.012 million mt), the Middle East (1.253 million mt), Turkey (414,600 mt) and Latin America (413,300 mt).
Pellet exports reached 2.928 million mt, a 25 percent increase from November, destined to the EU (1.062 million mt), Africa (735,200 mt), Asia (457,400 mt) and the US (367,600 mt).
Pellets of the blast furnace grade are reportedly commanding a premium of $36/mt over sinter feed fines, while the premium for the DRI grade product is $46/mt.