Following a week of oscillating prices in the Chinese iron ore spot market, coupled with stable premium for lumps and pellets and ocean freight rates increasing by $4/mt, iron ore export prices in Brazil are stable week-on-week, while domestic prices have declined.
Sinter feed fines of 65 percent iron contents remain traded for export from Brazil at $130/mt, the equivalent lumps at $134/mt and the equivalent blast furnace grade pellets at $137/mt, all CFR China conditions, dry basis.
In the Brazilian domestic market prices have declined in average by $4/mt and now are $102/mt, $106/mt and $109/mt, respectively, dry basis ex-works, no taxes included.
Sources tell SteelOrbis that the recent ups and downs of the iron ore prices in the Chinese spot market reflect primarily the activity of financial markets, based on expectations that the supply/demand balance of the product will be more balanced during the fourth quarter of the year. This analysis is corroborated in part by the increased recovery of shipments from Brazil, despite the recent suspension of activities at the Viga concentration plant, located in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, due to order by a local civil court.
Another source added that the demand for the ore remains strong and the fundamentals of the market are solid, with positive perspectives in the short and medium terms.
Preliminary indications from the Brazilian customs remain pointing to an increase in September from the 31.33 million mt of combined iron ore and pellets exported by the country in August.