At present, Indian fine ores of 63.5 percent grade are offered at $155.9/mt at Qingdao port. Meanwhile, quotations of 66 percent iron ore concentrate in Tangshan stand at $138.3/mt, and prices of the same material are at $120.6/mt in Beipiao, both excluding VAT. Prices of domestic production and imported iron ore in China can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
Although domestic steelmakers' inquiries for imported iron ore have remained at normal levels, the actual volume of transactions has been low, forcing traders and miners to retreat in their offer prices. However, the decline in offer prices has been limited by the relatively high cost of traders' materials.
As for the coming week, it is thought that overall iron ore prices in the Chinese market will probably move on a soft trend as steel prices are unlikely to indicate a recovery in short term.