Indian export offers for high grade iron ore fines (with Fe content of 63.5 percent and higher) have showed negligible movement in the past week edging down by a marginal $0.1/mt week on week to $80.75/mt CFR China amidst a near standstill in market activity, with traders representing Chinese steel mills absent from the market, local traders said on Friday, February 8.
“The market has not seen any activity owing to the Chinese holiday and only very small negligible volumes have been contracted by just a few Singapore-based traders,” an Odisha-based miner-exporter said.
“In the Indian market, while aggregating traders have been cautious about building up volumes at their stockyards, Indian miners have also not been rushing to increase production as the export market is poised to go in either direction from current offer levels. There are no clear indications of restocking trends once business activity picks up after the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday,” the miner-exporter added.
However, according to a steel sector analyst with a Mumbai-based financial advisory firm, the medium-term impact of the tailings dam breach in Brazil and production volumes from Vale will become clearers once trading activity picks up next week. He said that the size of the supply disruption will affect sentiment and give direction to offer levels over the next two weeks.