The price of Brazilian iron ore with a 65 percent iron content is now $122/mt, CFR China, compared with $123/mt one week ago, market insiders told SteelOrbis.
Iron ore pricing declined amid news that the volumes shipped by Australia and Brazil are 22 percent higher on a weekly basis, insiders said, while reports of the return to operation of previously idled Chinese blast furnaces also limited price support.
According to data from Siscomex, the Brazilian foreign trade central system, during the third week of May, Brazil exported on average more than 1.2 million metric tons (mt) of combined iron ore and pellets per day, the highest average so far in 2026, pointing to a high volume expected for the total of May.
Blast furnace grade pellets were exported at $140/mt, against $141/mt previously, showing the same 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, increased to 8.3 percent from previously 7.8 percent, when considering the iron units, reflecting continued high demand for high grade ores, insiders said.
In the Brazilian domestic market, reference prices are now $82/mt for the ore and $100/mt for pellets, against $83/mt and $101/mt previously, on an ex-works basis, no taxes included.
According to brokers Banchero Costa, the Tubarão-Qingdao route, the reference for Brazil-China iron ore shipments, stands today at $36.24/mt, against $36.80/mt last week, remaining among the highest in recent years, and 93.2 percent above the same period in 2025, reflecting mostly higher bunker oil prices resulting from the continuing conflict in the Middle East.
