In a steep decline, the price of the 65 percent iron sinter feed fines of Brazil is now $193/mt, against $204/mt late last week, CFR China conditions. The price reflects a decline of $41/mt in the last two weeks, indicating a solid downtrend.
Adding to a negative sentiment by players about previously announced steel production costs, the current significant decline reflects news about additional steel production costs in Tangshan city, to reduce emissions in preparation for the February 2022 Winter Olympics.
Nonetheless, the premium of the high-grade ore over the Australian 62 percent ore grade, when considering their iron units, remains at a high level, now 13.2 percent, still reflecting a resilient demand for the high performance of the high-grade product in blast furnaces.
The price of Brazilian blast furnace grade pellets, under the same conditions, is now $251/mt, against $272/mt previously. In two weeks, the decline was $38/mt
In the Brazilian domestic market, the prices are $157/mt for the ore and $216/mt for the pellets, ex-works, no taxes included, against $168/mt and $237/mt, respectively, two weeks ago.
Preliminary figures indicate that the Brazilian combined iron ore and pellets exports in August could exceed the volume of 31.69 million mt exported in July.