During the week ending November 13, prices of imported fine iron ore in China have continued to indicate a downward movement, with prices of high Fe-content lump ore indicating a slight rising trend, while transaction activity for imported iron ore is still on the sluggish side. At the same time, traders' offers of domestic production iron ore in Tangshan and Liaoning Province have continued to soften, with transaction activity for domestic iron ore generally being slack.
At present, Indian fine ores of 63.5 percent grade are offered at $88.1/mt at Qingdao port. Meanwhile, quotations of 66 percent iron ore concentrate in Tangshan stand at $94.6mt and prices of the same material are at $76.7/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, since lump ore has the advantage of meeting environmental protection requirements, prices of lump ore have edged up despite the weak price trend for fine ores. As the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Beijing has ended, steelmakers in northern China have increased their purchasing activities a little, while traders do not think the oversupply situation in the iron ore market will be eased. In addition, market participants are pessimistic on the prospects for the domestic finished steel market in the coming period. It is expected that iron ore prices in the Chinese market will remain on a slight downtrend in the week ahead.