During the week ending July 24, prices of imported iron ore in China have switched to a downtrend, while at the same time traders' offers of domestic production iron ore in Tangshan and Liaoning have also started to move on a soft trend. Transaction activity for both imported and domestic iron ore has been at low levels.
At present, Indian fine ores of 63.5 percent grade are offered at $109.7/mt at Qingdao port. Meanwhile, quotations of 66 percent iron ore concentrate in Tangshan stand at $104.8/mt and prices of the same material are at $88.7/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.
Affected by the significant downward movement in iron ore futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange, bearish sentiment has prevailed in the Chinese iron ore market during the past week, dragging down iron ore prices in the domestic spot market. Steelmakers are waiting to see more attractive prices, resulting in reduced transaction activity during the week. It is thought that both imported and domestic production iron ore prices will likely just see minor fluctuations in the coming week.