With iron ore prices having increased in the Chinese spot market, coupled with stable sea freight rates, iron ore prices in Brazil have also increased by approximately $2/mt from last week.
Sinter feed fines of 65 percent iron content are now being traded for export from Brazil at $67/mt, the equivalent lumps $89/mt and blast furnace grade pellets at $125/mt, FOB conditions.
In the Brazilian domestic market, for equivalent ores, the prices are $61/mt for sinter feed fines, $83/mt for lumps and $119/mt for blast furnace grade pellets, ex-works, no taxes included.
A source from a local miner mentioned that the higher grade ores are having a stronger demand, due to their improved performance and productivity at the blast furnaces, when compared with lower grade ores.
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 882,200mt were shipped to the Middle East and 277,400mt to Turkey.
Pellets exports fetched 2,834 million mt, having Asia (771,200mt), the EU (796,400mt) and Egypt (633,200mt) as main destinations.