Indian export offers for high grade iron ore fines (with Fe content of 63.5 percent and higher) have reversed their downward movement, gaining $2/mt during the past week to $77/mt CFR China, amid restocking by Chinese steel mills ahead of the approaching holiday and uncertainties over supplies from India, traders said on Friday, February 9.
“There has been much interest in high grade iron ore with traders representing Chinese steel mills increasing transaction volumes over the past few days,” an Odisha-based miner-exporter said.
“The renewed restocking interest is largely owing to the approaching holiday. I feel that that higher bookings will taper off, leading to stagnation of market activity as the Chinese holiday draws closer. This is evident from offers weakening by almost $1/mt on the last day of the week today, indicating that buying interest has already begun to wane,” the miner-exporter added.
A section of traders stated that international buyers are also nervous over shipment volumes from India in the wake of the Indian Supreme Court cancelling mining leases of all 88 mines in the western state of Goa, triggering a spurt in offer price levels.
However, the traders said that the apprehensions over shrinkage of shipment volumes from India are largely sentimental as most buying interest is confined to high grade ore and not low grade iron ore fines, the predominant production of Goa mines, which in any case were not finding many high-volume takers even before the court order to close the mines down.