Having closed last week with an upward movement, prices of ex-Australia iron ore with 62 percent Fe content for delivery to China’s Qingdao port have started this week with a decline, decreasing by $3.46 to $116.29-117.46/mt CFR China on Monday, July 22, as compared to Friday, July 19.
Having ended last week with an upward movement, import iron ore prices in China had fluctuated throughout the week, indicating a slight decrease as compared to the previous month. In the given week, according to reports, iron ore shipments from Australia’s Port Hedland increased by 11 percent in June as compared to May. Meanwhile, iron ore producer Rio Tinto stated that its shipments decreased by 3.5 percent during the second quarter of this year, being impacted by cyclonic weather, though it has maintained its forecast for iron ore exports for this year at 320-330 million mt. Amid these developments and rises in iron ore inventories at Chinese ports, concerns regarding tightness in iron ore supplies have eased. Meanwhile, in June, although crude steel production in China has decreased slightly, daily crude steel output in the country hit record levels. Since inventories of iron ore at Chinese mills are at low levels, China’s demand for iron ore is expected to recover in the coming days. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, July 16, Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) raised the transaction fees for all iron ore futures contracts to 0.01 percent from 0.006 percent of the trading value, starting July 18, resulting in decreased trading volumes in the futures market and also negatively impacting iron ore prices in the spot market.
Underlining that iron ore inventories at Chinese ports have increased recently, while prices have declined today market sources have said that a close eye will need to be kept on prices over the next few weeks. Global iron ore prices are expected to move on a fluctuating trend in the coming period.