Indian export offers for high grade iron ore fines (with Fe content of 63.5 percent and higher) have edged up by $2/mt during the past week to $78.20/mt CFR China, despite a minor dip on the last day of week, as transaction numbers and volumes have continued to remain strong with traders representing Chinese steel mills restocking ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday next month, traders said on Friday, January 12.
“Even though offer levels have showed minor dips towards the end of the week, most traders are still talking of the $80/mt mark being breached amid positive sentiment in the coming weeks,” an Odisha-based miner-exporter said.
“Restocking by Chinese steel mills ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday will provide the necessary support for offers to increase further,” the miner-exporter added.
Two other traders said that the marginal fall in Indian offers today, January 12, was a temporary blip as supply disruptions from Australia owing to inclement weather are not expected to be as severe as anticipated.
In India, exportable volumes available particularly from mines in Odisha are expected to tighten over the next few months and this development in the Indian market will offer greater support for offer price levels, the traders said.
However, whether the $80/mt mark will be breached in the short term largely depends on Chinese finished steel prices recovering from their current weakness, in which case the restocking of raw material seen in the Indian market will be sustained.