With iron ore prices increasing in the Chinese spot market, coupled with reduced ocean freight rates, iron ore prices in Brazil have increased in average by $3/mt from last week.
Sinter feed fines of 65 percent iron contents are now traded for export from Brazil at $65/mt, the equivalent lumps $87/mt and blast furnace grade pellets at $123/mt, FOB conditions.
In the Brazilian domestic market, for equivalent ores, the prices are $59/mt for sinter feed fines, $81/mt for lumps and $117/mt for blast furnace grade pellets, ex-works, no taxes included.
In August, Brazil exported 32.787 million mt of iron ore (pellets excluded). The main destinations were Asia (27.889 million mt, of which 22.902 million mt to China) and the EU (3.306 million mt), while 882,200 mt was shipped to the Middle East and 277,400 mt to Turkey.
Pellet exports reached 2.834 million mt, having Asia (771,200 mt), the EU (796,400 mt) and Egypt (633,200 mt) as the main destinations.