During the week ending September 25, prices of imported iron ore in China have seen an overall downtrend, while transaction activity for imported iron ore has been better than in the previous week and is now at decent levels. At the same time, traders' offers of domestic production iron ore in Tangshan and in Liaoning Province have softened slightly, while transaction activity for domestic iron ore has been sluggish.
At present, Indian fine ores of 63.5 percent grade are offered at $97.9/mt at Qingdao port. Meanwhile, quotations of 66 percent iron ore concentrate in Tangshan stand at $97.9/mt and prices of the same material are at $86.5/mt in Beipiao, Liaoning, both excluding VAT. Prices of domestic production and imported iron ore in China can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
During the given week, since iron ore inventories on the steelmakers' side has been at low levels and as the National Day Holiday (October 1-7) is also approaching, steelmakers have increased their inquiries and purchases of imported iron ore, resulting in improved transaction activity for imported material. However, the sharp declines in both rebar and iron ore futures prices in the past few days have dampened market participants' confidence, negatively impacting iron ore prices. Meanwhile, steelmakers are still not so interested in buying domestic production iron ore and so prices of domestic materials have weakened.
The Chinese government recently stated that it expects GDP growth for this year to be lower than 7.5 percent, while it does not plan to implement any major economic stimulus in the coming year. Accordingly, players in China's steel and steelmaking raw materials markets are increasingly concerned. It is expected that iron ore prices in the Chinese market will move sideways during the National Day Holiday period, with slower transaction activity.