The price of Brazilian iron ore with a 65 percent iron content is reported at $127/metric ton (mt), CFR China, against $128/mt one week earlier, market insiders told SteelOrbis this week.
Blast furnace-grade pellets are now exported at $145/mt, against $146/mt previously, showing a stable premium over same-grade sinter feed fines.
The premium for Brazilian high-grade ore containing 65 percent iron, relative to Australian ore with 62 percent iron, declined to 10.1 percent from the previous 10.5 percent, when considering the iron units, still reflecting a relative scarcity of the product, insiders said.
Despite the small weekly price decline, insiders report lower average daily iron ore shipments from Brazil during March. Current prices remain 29 percent less than the average for 2025, pointing to expectations for higher prices in the short term, while the Brazilian miner Vale maintains a strategy of reducing the availability of high-grade ores in the Asian markets, increasing pressure on high-grade ore prices, insiders said.
In the Brazilian domestic market, reference prices are now $93/mt for the ore and $112/mt for pellets, against $96/mt and $114/mt previously, on an ex-works basis, no taxes included.