A source from a major slab producer in Brazil told SteelOrbis that the iron ore received from Vale had a price reduction in $ terms.
According to the source, the prices, CFR, no taxes included, are now: $41.67/mt, a 2.3 percent reduction from three weeks ago for sinter feed fines; down 8.8 percent to $54.90/mt for lumps and down 9.5 percent to $63.27/mt for pellets.
The source added that the reduction of prices reflects different factors, such as lower prices in the international markets and the effect of exchange rate variations, while in the specific case of sinter feed fines, the variation of iron contents also played a key role.
In February, Brazil exported 21.32 million mt of iron ore (pellets excluded) at FOB $43.14/mt and 3.94 million mt of pellets at FOB $88.53/mt.
A commercial director of a junior mining company in Brazil has commented to SteelOrbis that the downturn in the iron ore market is halting operations and investments by junior miners all over the world, adding that such postponement of operations could result in shortages of the ore, as the demand for steel, currently lackluster, is set to gain momentum over the next three years.
He added that such shortage will boost prices back to the higher levels seen in recent years.