Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center Corporation (COREX) launched the Iron Ore Portside Index on September 28, 2025, including the Iron Ore Portside Index (61% Fe Qingdao) and the Iron Ore Portside Index (61% Fe Caofeidian), which stood at RMB 772/wmt and RMB 781/wmt, respectively, with US$/dmt equivalents standing at $100.87 and $101.73.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, on September 19, COREX had announced it is suspending the issuing of the spot 62 percent Fe benchmark price for iron ore fines (RMB/Qingdao) as of September 22.
COREX has 633 members, with an estimated accumulated trading volume exceeding 100 million mt in 2025, including 70 million mt of portside iron ore.
According to COREX, the global iron ore trade landscape has undergone profound changes in recent years. As the world’s largest consumer and importer of iron ore, China has seen its portside spot market expanding steadily. Characterized by active trading, high continuity, broad participation, and close proximity to end-users, the portside spot market has become a key barometer of immediate supply and demand.
The release of the Qingdao and Caofeidian 61 percent RMB price index follows the principle of market-driven price discovery, focusing on the portside spot market for mainstream medium-grade iron ore at China’s major ports. The index is compiled exclusively from actual transaction data, which minimizes the subjective distortions inherent in manual assessments.