Increased iron ore price quotations in the Chinese spot market were offset in FOB terms by increased ocean freight rates, resulting in iron ore prices in Brazil roughly stable on a week-to-week basis.
Sinter feed fines of 65 percent iron contents are now traded for export from Brazil at $72/mt, the equivalent lumps at $79/mt and blast furnace grade pellets at $130/mt, FOB conditions.
In the Brazilian domestic market, the prices are now $66/mt for sinter feed fines, $73/mt for lumps and $124/mt for blast furnace grade pellets, ex-works, no taxes included.
Brazil exported 27.521 million mt of iron ore (pellets excluded) in January, 8.4 percent less than in December 2017, according to the local ministry of industry, foreign trade and services, MDIC.
Asia was the main destination (20.832 million mt, of which 17.625 million mt to China), followed by the EU (4.313 million mt), the Middle East (1.694 million mt), Latin America (431,500 mt) and Turkey (245,000 mt).
Conversely, pellet exports increased by 7 percent month-on-month to 2.918 million mt, reflecting chiefly exports of 405,000 mt to Egypt, against no exports in December. Other destinations for pellets in January included Asia (971,300 mt), the EU (620,400 mt), South America (317,000 mt), the US (276,700 mt), the Middle East (164,500 mt) and Trinidad and Tobago (163,200 mt).