Indian export offers for high grade
iron ore fines (with Fe content of 63.5 percent and higher) have came under downward pressure and higher levels have slipped during the past week, while the gains were limited to $2/mt and prices only increased to around $53-54/mt CFR China as buyers quickly showed resistance to higher levels, traders said on Friday, July 31.
"The resistance to higher levels and a correction was much expected. Local offers were driven by positions in the international futures market and failed to remain at the weekly high of $55-56/mt as buyers were just not interested," an Orissa-based miner-exporter said.
"At the same time, several Indian traders were quick to lower their offers from levels of around $56/mt to keep pushing volumes and possibly anticipating that $50/mt and above levels were not sustainable in the medium term," the miner-exporter said.
A section of the market sources said that, in the absence of any fundamental support for the physical markets, such as strong restocking by Chinese steel mills or a sharp drawdown on stocks at ports, Indian offers were unlikely to be sustained at the higher levels and indications to that effect surfaced during the week.
The sources state that the Chinese financial markets have remained nervous and issues of liquidity faced by steel mills will remove any possibility of aggressive restocking of raw materials and this will dampen sentiments and offers in local markets.