Indian export offers for high grade iron ore fines (with Fe content of 63.5 percent and higher) have increased by $1.6/mt week on week to $90.65/mt CFR China but have lost some of their upside momentum in the face of buyers’ cautiousness over sharp early week gains, traders said on Friday, April 12.
“Supply disruption continued to drive offers even though segments of the market differed on how long such disruptions would last. But fears of tightening supplies have helped the market to record gains for the third consecutive week and offers to consolidate above the $90/mt mark,” an Odisha-based miner-exporter said.
“But the surge in transaction volumes eased off slightly during the week as buyers became cautious about concluding transactions for significant volumes above the $90/mt mark, and this triggered mid-week corrections,” he added.
However, according to two other traders, supply-side pressures in the local market will continue to support offers and any downward correction will be limited.
The traders said that most aggregating traders had almost exhausted stocks at ports having completed major transactions in earlier weeks at offers above the $90/mt mark and these aggregating traders will need to restock over the coming week and this will further drive up offers.
At the same time, miner-exporters were seen to be concluding high-volume transactions riding on revived buying interest for high alumina-content Indian fines although average transaction volumes were down over the week