SteelOrbis Shanghai
The fifth round of international
iron ore price negotiation will be held soon.
Baosteel and
China's Iron and Steel Association (CISA) expressed their unwillingness to accept the price increase, however, CVRD still insists on raising
iron ore prices by 24%, otherwise, it will consider selling
iron ore in spot market.
According to
China Chamber of Commerce of Minerals and Chemicals (CCCMC), offers for 63.5-percent Indian fine ore are at around $53-54/mt FOB and $70-71/mt CIF, indicating $1-2/mt decline in
freight rates compared to two weeks ago.
On April 24, the
iron ore inventory at
China's 23 major ports totaled 40.61 million metric tons, up 400,000 metric tons from a week ago. Among the total, the quantity of Indian ore increased 480,000 metric tons week on week to 9.28 million metric tons.
The transaction volume of imported ore has not recovered. It is not easy for Indian ore at Tianjin Port to get a favorable sales figure. The transaction volume of low iron content ore, which sells well before, is not satisfying. The commercial activities at Rizhao and Lanshan Ports are not optimistic either. The inventory at Rizhao Port is extremely large. The transportation fee in Hebei will be increased starting from June 1; therefore, the transportation cost of steel mills will rise RMB 30/mt ($4), which may lead commercial activities for imported ore to become brisker before June.
In local markets,
iron ore prices are more stable in South
China and the mills in this region are more active in their purchases. The steel mills in North and East
China have cut their
iron ore procurement prices incrementally.