Having closed last week with a sideways movement due to the Dragon Boat Festival holiday in China, prices of ex-Australia iron ore with 62 percent Fe content for delivery to China’s Qingdao port have increased by $0.91/mt on the first working day of the current week to $99.37-100.46/mt CFR China.
Last week, demand for iron ore in China was slack since steel producers decreased their liquid steel production amid the weakness of finished steel demand in the country. Under these circumstances, import iron ore prices in China decreased on Thursday, while they recorded their weakest weekly performance in nearly two months due to the expectation that the tightness of iron ore supplies will ease in the coming period and amid increasing shipments from major iron ore producers.
Meanwhile, Reuters has quoted Singapore-based steel and iron ore data analytics company Tivlon Technologies as stating that, amid limited iron ore supply as stocks at Chinese ports shrank further, demand for iron ore may pick up again in the coming weeks. However, the inventory levels of import iron ore at ports have decreased and this situation is expected to provide some support for iron ore prices in the short term, while import iron ore prices in the Chinese market are expected to fluctuate within a limited range.