A source from a major slab producer in Brazil told SteelOrbis that he is buying iron ore sinter feed fines from Vale at $42.67/mt, CFR, no taxes, down 3 percent from one month ago.
He is also buying pellets under the same conditions at $69.34/mt (up 12 percent from a month ago) and lumps at $60.65/mt (up 17 percent month-on-month).
According to the source, the resilience of the pellets and lumps prices derive from scarcity, in the case of lumps, and from a different market dynamics for pellets, which are consumed not only in the blast furnaces of integrated plants, but also by direct reduction plants.