Indian export offers for high grade iron ore fines (with Fe content of 63.5 percent and higher) have increased by $1.80/mt week on week to around $81.50/mt CFR China, in a continuing volatile market with prices moving both direction in reaction to futures speculations, traders said on Friday, December 9.
"It it very difficult to make out short-term trends in the current volatile market conditions. It is not even clear whether the $80/mt mark will hold given the ongoing fluctuations," an Odisha-based miner-exporter said.
"Since many offers are a reflection of speculative positions in the international futures market, it makes little difference to our physical trade. Naturally, the gains in offer levels are not matched by a commensurate rise in transaction volumes in the domestic physical market," the trader added.
At least two other traders said that a few traders representing Chinese steel mills have received offers but have not responded, possibly waiting for prices to settle before concluding transactions.