Iron ore prices have remained stable over the past two days and have indicated just a slight decline compared to October 29. Demand has been limited so far as Chinese mills have not been ready to increase purchases for December, when demand for steel is expected to decline.
Iron ore fines with 62 percent Fe content have remained stable today, November 5, at $117/mt CFR, which, however, is $1.2/mt lower week on week. Brazilian iron ore with 65 percent Fe has moved sideways on the same day at $129.8/mt CFR, down by $0.2/mt week on week, SteelOrbis has learned.
Only one deal has been heard at the trading platforms on Thursday - 80,000 mt of Australian Mac fines have been traded at $113.65/mt CFR with delivery in December.
During the given week, demand for iron ore has been lower. This has partly been due to more severe restrictions on operations of sintering machines and blast furnaces in the Tangshan region. For a short period of time (on October 4-6), [JF1] some plants were ordered to fully stop production to improve air quality. Meanwhile, import iron ore prices in China have remained under pressure from the ongoing high levels of shipments and volumes of iron ore supplies arriving at Chinese ports, and this situation will likely continue in the near future.
Iron ore futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange have edged down by 1.14 percent today, coming to RMB 783/mt ($115.8/mt) compared to November 4, while increasing by 0.45 percent compared to October 29.
At the same time, stronger steel prices in the Chinese market are providing support for iron ore prices at the moment. Today, Thursday, rebar futures prices at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,748/mt ($560.3/mt), increasing by RMB 80/mt ($12/mt) or 2.2 percent since October 29, while rising by 0.32 percent compared to the previous trading day.
Imported iron ore prices in China (week-on-week basis)
|
Product name |
Iron |
Truck loaded price |
Change |
Price |
Change |
|
Newman iron ore lump |
63/63.5 |
875 |
130.8 |
1.0 |
|
|
Yandi fines |
58 / 59 |
820 |
10 |
122.6 |
2.1 |
|
PB Fines |
62 |
853 |
1 |
127.5 |
0.8 |
|
PB iron ore lump |
62/63 |
893 |
-22 |
133.5 |
-2.6 |
|
Brazil fines |
63 |
872 |
-3 |
130.3 |
0.3 |
Price includes VAT.
Nationwide iron ore concentrate prices (66 percent Fe)
|
Place of origin |
Market price （RMB/mt, Incl. VAT) |
Change |
Price（$/mt) |
Change |
|
Tangshan |
851 |
-4 |
127 |
0 |
|
Beipiao |
825 |
0 |
123 |
1 |
Price includes VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.6895