Iron ore demand concerns for the winter period, slow buying, the plunge in futures prices, and weaker support from the steel market have led to a further iron ore price decrease. Prices for fines with 62 percent Fe content have lost $2.8/mt today, November 8, and $5.3/mt over the week, coming to $79.7/mt CFR, the lowest level since late January. Brazilian fines with 65 percent Fe have been at $88/mt CFR, down $3/mt from November 7.
There have been no deals at trading platforms today and overall trading has been slack. At the same time, traders at Chinese ports have been willing to sell, cutting offers by RMB 10-15/mt ($1.4-2.1/mt) today.
Iron ore futures at Dalian Commodity Exchange have dropped by RMB 17.5/mt ($2.5/mt) to RMB 600/mt ($86/mt) over the day, reflecting bearish sentiment in the market.
Steel futures have also posted a decline: rebar at Shanghai Future Exchange lost RMB 28/mt ($4/mt) today, coming to RMB 3,412/mt ($488/mt). Moreover, spot billet prices in China have lost RMB 7/mt ($1/mt) on Friday. Sources said that demand for construction steel has already posted some signs of weakening and the situation will worsen during the rest of November.
$1 = RMB 6.9945