Indian export offers for high grade iron ore fines (with Fe content of 63.5 percent and higher) have continued to show marginal gains for the second consecutive week, with offer levels edging up by $1/mt week on week to $57.10/mt CFR China riding on the modest revival seen in the number of transactions concluded during the past week, traders said on Friday, June 23.
"More transactions have been concluded during the past week even though volumes were modest. The market perceives that offer levels may have hit a short-term bottom and this has revived buying interest. The mood in the market now is one of cautious optimism," an Odisha-based miner-exporter said.
"The gains during the past week have been marginal. The market is on a knife edge and can go either direction from the current levels as there are a lot of uncertainties over key drivers," the miner-exporter added.
Market sources said that it was significant that, despite wild swings in the futures market, physical offers have remained stable and even the marginal gains in the past week have been seen as a positive signal.
A slight tightening of supplies has also been reported in the Indian market with mining operations closed in Goa for monsoon rains and with rains also impacting production volumes in the eastern state of Odisha, thereby providing supply-side support for offer levels, the sources added.