At present, Indian fine ores of 63.5 percent grade are offered at $83.2/mt at Qingdao port. Meanwhile, quotations of 66 percent iron ore concentrate in Tangshan stand at $91.4/mt and prices of the same material are at $71.8/mt in Beipiao, Liaoning, 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, no increase has been seen in steelmakers' purchasing activities, with a decline observed in transaction volumes and higher inventory levels seen at ports, resulting in further decreases in import iron ore prices. In this context, traders have lowered their prices for domestic production iron ore. Currently, inventory of iron ore on the steelmakers' side is not at high levels and so they are expected to increase their purchases in the coming period. However, insiders think this will only provide limited support for iron ore prices, especially as oversupply continues to prevail in the market. Sentiment in the market is still negative. It is expected that iron ore prices in the Chinese market will continue their downtrend in the coming week.