Indian export offers for high grade
iron ore fines (with Fe content of 63.5 percent and higher) have increased by $4/mt during the past week to $91.60/mt CFR China, having failed to maintain a mid-week high of $93/mt, triggering fears of a further correction, traders said on Friday, February 17.
"The rise in
iron ore prices has caused transaction volumes to increase sharply. However, the weekly high of $93/mt failed to hold amid fears of a further correction," an Odisha-based miner-exporter said.
"The moot point in the market is to watch whether the correction gains momentum. But with offer levels gaining as much as $8/mt over the past two weeks, despite sporadic losses, I feel that offers are moving on to a strong uptrend," the miner-exporter said.
"While the gains in local
iron ore offers are triggered by the strong futures market, the market is expecting the fundamentals of the physical market to strengthen also on the back of the recovery of finished steel prices in the current year," the miner-exporter added.
At least two other traders said that any consolidation above the $90/mt mark will bring more miner-exporters to conclude higher transaction volumes, while the current market is dominated by aggregating traders who are quicker to respond surges in offer levels.