During the week ending August 21, prices of imported iron ore in China have mostly indicated slight downticks, while at the same time traders' offers of domestic production iron ore in Tangshan and Liaoning have remained stable. Transaction activity for domestic iron ore has continued to be better than for imported iron ore.
At present, Indian fine ores of 63.5 percent grade are offered at $108.8/mt at Qingdao port. Meanwhile, quotations of 66 percent iron ore concentrate in Tangshan stand at $105.2/mt and prices of the same material are at $89/mt in Beipiao, 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, due to the soft trend of finished steel prices, steelmakers have been exerting downward pressure on iron ore prices, resulting in declines in imported iron ore prices. Meanwhile, iron ore futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange have continued to decrease, contributing to bearish sentiment in the raw materials market. However, inquiries for imported iron ore have started to pick up, which may contribute to the stability of imported iron ore prices. It is thought that iron ore prices in the Chinese market may move sideways in the coming period as steelmakers purchase iron ore in order to maintain their production volumes.