During the week ending September 11, prices of imported iron ore in China have continued to follow a downtrend, while transaction activity for imported iron ore has not shown any improvement compared to the previous week and is currently at low levels. At the same time, traders' offers of domestic production iron ore in Tangshan have softened slightly, while traders' offers of domestic production iron ore in Liaoning Province have remained stable. Transaction activity for domestic iron ore has been sluggish.
At present, Indian fine ores of 63.5 percent grade are offered at $96.2/mt at Qingdao port. Meanwhile, quotations of 66 percent iron ore concentrate in Tangshan stand at $101.1/mt and prices of the same material are at $89.7/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, since Chinese steelmakers' iron ore inventory levels are low, they have increased their inquiries for imported iron ore, though they have not increased their actual purchase volumes as they are hoping to obtain lower prices at a later stage. Furthermore, they have reduced their purchases of domestic production iron ore and inventories of domestic iron ore held by both Chinese miners and traders are at high levels, which exerts a negative impact on prices of domestic ore. Chinese steelmakers are expected to step up their purchases of imported iron ore in the coming period. However, it is expected that imported iron ore prices will continue to indicate a downtrend as bearish sentiment still prevails in the Chinese steel market.