Ex-India pellet prices have staged a slight recovery over the past week with sellers attempting to push up offers on the back of rising local price of fines, while buying interest has varied depending on grades, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Friday, January 30.
Sources said that large producers are submitting higher offers to offset the recent rise in prices of fines by about INR 200/mt ($2/mt). There were fewer deals and most of these were for higher grades of low alumina content with Fe content of 63 percent and above, while no bids were heard for lower grades.
Ex-India pellet prices have gained $2/mt to the range of $117-122/mt CFR China with the price at the higher end of the range applicable for high grades with silica-alumina content less than three percent, to which most of the few deals during the past week were limited.
For example, a tender-based sale of 50,000 mt was closed with the highest bid received at $122-123/mt CFR with Fe content higher than 63 percent and alumina content of three percent, the sources said.
Similarly, another spot sale of 40,000 mt also of higher grade was concluded at $122/mt CFR, the sources added.
They said that, even though the few trades were restricted only to high grades, they boosted the mood of sellers who were quick to hike offers as they were very “comfortable” with robust local sales volumes and prices, along with tight exportable supplies.