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 $79/mt CFR China amid restocking for the Chinese holiday but with signs of activity drying up towards the close of the week, traders said on Friday, February 16.
“Traders representing Chinese steel mills were active early in the week for pre-holiday restocking, bolstering offers,” an Odisha-based miner-exporter said.
“But that the market was heading for a week of inactivity was evident from the decline in transactions and volumes seen on the last day of the week,” the miner-exporter added.
According to two other traders, although there were reports in the market that the $80/mt mark would be breached following the uptrend in offer levels during the past week, such expectations were unlikely to be realized as much of the recent gains were driven by the strength of the futures market.
The two traders said that reports from traders representing Chinese steel mills indicated that the mood among buyers is expected to be cautious once activity resumes after the holiday.
Sources pointed out that the lull in trading activity will come as a breather for aggregating traders as the latter are facing transportation issues and a sharp fall in their stockyard volumes and can use the break in market activity to aggregate volumes from mines.