Reflecting reduced liquidity in the physical market, the price of ex-Brazil 65 percent iron sinter feed fines in the Chinese spot market is now $155/mt, against $164/mt late last week, CFR China conditions.
The price of the Brazilian blast furnace grade pellets, in a similar trend, declined from $200/mt to $191/mt, under the same conditions.
Conversely, the premium of that high-grade ore over the Australian 62 percent ore grade, when considering their iron units, is now 11.6 percent, against 7.8 percent previously, reflecting the fact that despite reduced prices, the demand for quality products remains high among integrated steel producers due to the higher performance of the product in blast furnaces.
In the Brazilian domestic market, the prices are estimated now at $114/mt for the ore and $150/mt for the pellets, ex-works, no taxes included, against $122/mt and $158/mt, respectively, late last week.
In August, Brazil exported 32.65 million mt of iron ore (pellets excluded) and 2.18 million mt of pellets, against respectively 29.91 million mt and 1.77 million mt in July. Asia was the main destination of the ore (27.78 million mt, of which 23.20 million mt to China), followed by the Middle East (2.51 million mt) and Europe (2.19 million mt).
Asia was also the main destination of the pellets (1.38 million mt, of which 750,100 mt to China), followed by Argentina (402,000 mt) and Egypt (167,900 mt), while smaller volumes were shipped to Europe and the US.