Prices of ex-Australia iron ore of 62 percent Fe content for delivery to China’s Qingdao port have remained stable since last Friday, January 27, starting the current week at $83-83.4/mt CFR China. As of January 23, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 104.2 million mt, up one million mt or 0.97 percent compared to the inventory level recorded on January 16, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
Average global iron ore prices were unchanged last week as compared to the previous week, influenced by the stable trend of domestic semi-finished and finished steel prices in China, even though Chinese buyers’ iron ore bookings slowed down significantly ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.
Despite the sharp declines in global scrap prices, iron ore prices are expected to mostly move sideways without any significant change until mid-February, due to the Chinese New Year holiday which ends on February, 6.