The price of the 65 percent iron sinter feed fines of Brazil is $254/mt today, against $252/mt late last week, CFR China conditions. The price maintains a pattern of oscillation at high historical levels.
Under the same conditions, the price of blast furnace grade pellets has reached $319/mt against $317/mt previously.
In the Brazilian domestic market, the prices are $221/mt for the high-grade ore and $286/mt for pellets, ex-works, no taxes included, against $217/mt for high-grade ore and $282/mt for pellets previously.
Sources mentioned that there is currently a reduced liquidity for iron ore in China, while futures prices are positively affected by increasing steel prices, but uncertainties remain on the effectiveness of measures to control steel production in the country.
In the supply side, doubts remain about iron ore production in Brazil, due to an energy crisis set to affect the country’s activities during the second half of the year.
Such doubts remain despite the fact that over the last eight months, the Brazilian combined exports of iron ore and pellets have consistently increased on yearly basis.
With high volumes accounted along the two last weeks of June, the Brazilian combined exports of iron ore and pellets have reverted expectations and have actually increased to 33.68 million mt in the month, against 26.66 million mt in May.
Exports of iron ore (pellets excluded) in June have reached 31.93 million mt, destined chiefly to Asia (26.45 million mt, of which 23.21 million mt to China), Europe (3.21 million mt) and the Middle East (2.04 million mt).
The pellets exports of June have reached 1.75 million mt, chiefly destined to the Middle East (375,400mt), Europe (364,100mt) and Asia (278,600mt), while smaller volumes were shipped to the US, Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago and Chile.