Indian export offers for high grade iron ore fines (with Fe content of 63.5 percent and higher) have performed strongly during the past week, moving up by $3.30/mt week on week to $67.40/mt CFR China amid the combination of optimism over finished steel prices and fresh transactions for large volumes, traders said on Friday, July 14.
However, sources said that the market was seen to be losing momentum towards the end of the week.
“The strength of the Chinese steel market has triggered renewed interest from traders representing Chinese steel mills to step up activity in the Indian market,” an Odisha-based miner-exporter said.
“There are fewer aggregating traders in the local market. This supply-side constraint and the sharp upturn in the number of buyers in the market as well as the rise in transaction volumes have provided support for the rising offer levels,” the miner-exporter added.
At least two other traders said that there were signs of a marginal corrections during the week, but said current offers are unlikely to dip below a short-term bottom of around $62-63/mt and this has prompted buyers to maintain a presence in the market.