Indian export offers for high grade iron ore fines (with Fe content of 63.5 percent and higher) have showed marginal gains of $1-2/mt during the past week to $51-52/mt CFR China, but the underlying weakness in the market has persisted and buyers have been scarce as they are waiting for a further slide in the market, traders said on Friday, July 24.
“The increases in offer prices have been marginal, constituting a correction after the previous sharp fall. The tentative revival has had more to do with speculative positions in futures rather than any demand push,” an Orissa-based miner-exporter said.
“Fundamentally, with international billet prices moving down and Chinese steel mills unlikely to restock given the rise in stocks at Chinese ports, it was only a matter of time before Indian export offers came under renewed pressure,” the miner-exporter said.
“Most miner-exporters have stayed away from the market and only a few aggregating traders have concluded transactions for small volumes during the week, resulting in a dull market situation,” he added.
Some market sources, however, have contended that port stocks in China may have been drawn down and modest restocking could be on the cards, but some traders have stated that most buyers would now prefer to wait for offers to fall below the $50/mt mark before concluding transactions.