The price for Brazilian high-grade iron ore, with 65 percent iron content, is now $123/mt, stable from last week, CFR China.
Such stability reflects, in the negative side, a small increase of iron ore volumes exported from Brazil, counterbalanced by the recovery of steel production in China.
The export price of blast furnace grade pellets is now $141/mt, also stable from last week, CFR China, reflecting also the same premium relative to equivalent 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, declined to 10.9 percent from 11.7 percent previously, maintaining a high premium in historical terms, reflecting the interest of steel producers for the high performance of premium products when processed in blast furnaces.
In the Brazilian domestic market, reference prices are now $96/mt for the ore and $115/mt for pellets, against respectively $95/mt and $114/mt previously, ex-works and excluding taxes. Such small increase is due to variations in the Brazil-China freight rate, as the domestic price in Brazil is based on FOB conditions, having CFR China as the reference.
In August, Brazil exported a combined volume of 40.21 million mt of iron ore and pellets. Preliminary indications, based on figures from the first two weeks of September, are pointing to a stable or slightly higher volume for the total of the month.