During the week ending December 4, some prices of imported fine
iron ore in
China have indicated minor downticks, with other prices moving sideways, while transaction activity for imported
iron ore has not seen any improvement and remains on the poor side. At the same time, traders' offers of domestic
production iron ore in Tangshan and Liaoning Province have continued to follow a slight downtrend, while transaction activity for domestic
iron ore is generally slack.
At present, Indian fine ores of 63.5 percent grade are offered at $83.2/mt at Qingdao port. Meanwhile, quotations of 66 percent
iron ore concentrate in Tangshan stand at $89.7/mt and prices of the same material are at $70.1/mt in Beipiao, Liaoning, both excluding VAT.
Prices of domestic production and
imported iron ore in
China can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
During the given week,
iron ore traders have in general sought to keep their imported ore price levels unchanged, while steelmakers have been reluctant to conclude purchases, resulting in slack transaction activity. As for domestic
production iron ore, steelmakers only purchased limited quantities, resulting in a slight softening of prices of domestic ore. It is expected that
iron ore prices in the Chinese market will continue to be characterized by softness as steelmakers will seek lower
iron ore prices during the quieter winter season.