The price for Brazilian high-grade iron ore, with 65 percent iron content, is now $115/mt against $118/mt one week ago, CFR China.
Iron ore prices are negatively affected by the prudence adopted by players, waiting for clear signs from the next high-level meeting of Chinese authorities, expected for the end of this week, and from the developments of the China-US commercial negotiations.
Last week, the price reached the highest since February 2025, having consistently declined since then.
The export price of blast furnace grade pellets is now $128/mt against $131/mt last week, CFR China, maintaining the same premium relative to sinter feed fines.
The premium for Brazilian high-grade ore, containing 65 percent iron, relative to Australian 62 percent iron ore, based on their iron units, increased to 10.1 percent from 9.9 percentpreviously, reflecting higher interest of integrated producers for the performance of premium ores when processed in blast furnaces.
In the Brazilian domestic market, reference prices are now $89/mt for the ore and $102/mt for pellets, down from $95/mt and $108/mt, respectively, ex-works and excluding taxes. These prices have been negatively affected also by higher Brazil-China freight rates, as the domestic price in Brazil is based on the FOB quotation, using CFR China as the reference.
In June, Brazil exported 36.3 million mt of combined iron ore and pellets. Preliminary data indicates lower volumes for July.