Having closed last week with a sideways movement, prices of ex-Australia iron ore of 62 percent Fe content for delivery to China’s Qingdao port have increased by $3.6/mt on Monday, November 6, compared to last Friday, starting the current week at $63.05-63.75/mt CFR China. As of October 30, inventory of iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports amounted to 113.68 million mt, up 500,000 mt or 0.44 percent compared to the inventory level recorded on October 23, as announced by China's Xinhua News Agency.
Last week, global iron ore prices declined by 3.4 percent due to the increased inventories of iron ore at Chinese ports and since Chinese mills slowed down their iron ore bookings amid their reduced needs due to crude steel production cuts.
Meanwhile, global iron ore prices have started the current week with an upward trend in line with the increases seen in the Chinese steel futures market. However, market players state that this upward movement of global iron ore prices may be speculative as iron ore prices are expected to come downward pressure considering the ongoing crude steel production cuts and since steel demand in China is expected to decrease further in the short term.