The situation in the iron ore market improved slightly on Wednesday following the announcement of Donald Trump about the delay in adding tariffs on Chinese goods. Higher futures and better sentiments in the steel market led to increase of Australian iron ore fines with 62 percent Fe prices by $1/mt to $90-91/mt CFR. Brazilian 65 percent Fe fines have gone up by $0.5/mt to $98-99/mt CFR, SteelOrbis was informed.
The US announced Tuesday that 10 percent duty on some Chinese goods worth about $150 billion will be delayed until December 15, instead of taking effect on September 1. That news had positive influence on iron ore and steel futures. Iron ore at the Dalian Commodity Exchange went up by 1.4 percent to RMB 636/mt. Rebar futures at the Shanghai Future Exchange gained 7.5 percent over the day, reaching RMB 3,695/mt.
Moreover, latest data from NBS showed crude steel output decline by 2.31 million mt on month-on-month basis in July. Mills in Shandong province announced production cuts this week. All this news supported local steel tags, preventing iron ore from further drop.