Chinese customers have been showing caution regarding purchases of iron ore, which has pushed prices down further on Tuesday, September 17. Prices for Australian fines with 62 percent Fe content have lost another $1.4/mt, coming to $96.1/mt CFR, while Brazilian fines with 65 percent Fe have slipped by $2/mt to $102/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has been informed.
A deal for 80,000 mt of Newman fines with 62 percent Fe content has been closed at $96.2/mt CFR for shipment during October 1-10. Two contracts for Australian Yandi fines (160,000 mt in total) have been signed based on October indexes minus $3.3/mt. Moreover, 170,000 mt of Brazilian fines with 65 percent Fe content have been traded based on the November index plus $1.1/mt.
Though customers are still interested in purchases for October, overall sentiments have been bearish. Iron ore futures at Dalian Commodity Exchange have gone down by RMB 12.5/mt ($1.8/mt) to RMB 665.5/mt ($94/mt).
Weaker data for real estate development in the January-August period and not very positive expectations for September-October have put pressure on the steel market, with rebar futures at Shanghai Future Exchange losing RMB 20/mt ($3/mt) on Tuesday, closing at RMB 3,533/mt ($500/mt).