Ex-India pellet prices have continued to follow a downtrend with restocking by Chinese mills ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday fading, and buyers have been submitting low bids but local sellers have been unwilling to do deals, resulting in near silent trade conditions, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Friday, December 20.
Sources said that ex-India pellet prices are down $1-3/mt to the range of $112-114/mt CFR China, but bids have been even lower at $107-108/mt CFR.
According to the sources, with sufficient port stocks in China and the finished steel market not being impacted as much as expected by the recent economic stimulus, Chinese steel mills have been subdued in their pre-holiday restocking, unless deals worked out at lower levels.
On the part of local sellers, even though the export market has slowed down and demand for higher grade (low silica-alumina content) has fallen over the past week, producers have been willing to wait and watch for better prices against the backdrop of sustained robust local market conditions.
It has been pointed out that, at current ex-India prices, margins from local sales are still INR 950/mt ($11/mt) higher, and so sellers, while keeping port stocks ready, have not been rushing to conclude deals.