Quotations for ex-Brazil sinter feed fines of 65 percent iron contents in the Chinese spot market has reached $203/mt, CFR China conditions, one of the highest prices in recent years.
With higher premium for lumps and pellets, the prices of these products have reached respectively $242/mt and $265/mt, under the same conditions, also the highest quotations in recent years.
Sources mentioned that the main driver for such high prices is the demand for products that require less coke to process in blast furnace, reducing emissions in blast furnaces, as well as direct charge products, avoiding emissions in the sintering process.
With increasing ocean freight rates, reducing iron ore prices in FOB terms, prices in the Brazilian domestic market are now $171/mt for sinter feed fines of 65 percent iron, $210/mt for equivalent lumps and $233/mt for blast furnace grade pellets.
In March Brazil exported 26.70 million mt of iron ore (pellets excluded) and 1.72 million mt of pellets, against respectively 22.97 million mt and 1.00 million mt in February.
The main destinations of the ore were Asia (21.14 million mt, of which 17.37 million mt to China), Europe (3.20 million mt) and the Middle East (1.59 million mt), while the main destinations of the pellets were Africa (460,100 mt), the US (328,700 mt), Argentina (306,700 mt) and Asia (293,500 mt).