Iron ore prices have expectedly moved down on Monday, September 16, following the sharp rise seen last week. Prices for Australian fines with 62 percent Fe content have lost $1/mt today coming to $97.5/mt CFR, while Brazilian fines 65 percent Fe have declined by the same amount to $104/mt CFR.
Trading activity has moderated on Monday as buyers have been more cautious about concluding purchases at higher prices. Only one deal has been registered at the trading platforms. About 80,000 mt of Yandi fines with 58 percent Fe content have been sold based on October index minus $3.2/mt.
Futures at Dalian Commodity Exchange have continued to go up, reflecting still positive expectations for the market development in the near future. January iron ore futures have increased by RMB 10.5/mt ($1.5/mt) to RMB 678/mt ($96/mt).
The steel market has also remained strong. Rebar futures at Shanghai Future Exchange have added RMB 51/mt ($7/mt) since the previous working day on Tuesday.
Though there are expectations that iron ore prices will fluctuate at around $95/mt CFR in the near future owing to still high steel production due to weak restrictions in China, longer-term expectations are not so good. According to Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director of Indian steelmaker JSW Steel, iron ore prices will be at the range of $80-85/mt CFR for the rest of 2019 and will fall to $60-65/mt CFR in 2020.
