The price of Brazilian iron ore with a 65 percent iron content following the recent April 4-6 Chinese Qingming Festival holiday is priced at $126/metric ton (mt), CFR China, against $127/mt one week earlier, market insiders told SteelOrbis this week.
According to analysts, the price reflects higher volume of iron ore availability at Chinese ports, an increase of 0.65 percent week-on-week, partially the result of Chinese authority efforts to accelerate works related to energy generation.
Blast furnace-grade pellets are now exported at $144/mt, against $145/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 9.9 percent from the previous 10.1 percent, when considering the iron units, still reflecting high demand for the ore, insiders said.
Secex, the foreign trade secretariat of the ministry of development, industry and foreign trade, reported lower average daily iron ore shipments from Brazil during March, with current daily volumes 29 percent less than the average for 2025, fueling expectations for higher short-term prices, 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 $92/mt for the ore and $111/mt for pellets, against $93/mt and $112/mt previously, on an ex-works basis, no taxes included, insiders said.
