During the week ending December 11, prices of imported fine
iron ore from India in
China have mostly indicated minor downticks, with prices for Australian and Brazilian
iron ore moving sideways, while transaction activity for imported
iron ore has seen some improvements compared to the previous week. At the same time, traders' offers of domestic production
iron ore in Tangshan and Liaoning Province have continued to follow a slight downtrend, while transaction activity for domestic
iron ore is generally slack.
At present, Indian fine ores of 63.5 percent grade are offered at $81.6/mt at Qingdao port. Meanwhile, quotations of 66 percent
iron ore concentrate in Tangshan stand at $88.1/mt and prices of the same material are at $68.5/mt in Beipiao, Liaoning, both excluding VAT.
Prices of domestic production and
imported iron ore in
China can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
During the given week, in order to replenish inventories, domestic steelmakers have increased their purchasing activities. Steelmakers who previously used more domestic production
iron ore have started to purchase more imported
iron ore, resulting in increased inquiries and transaction volumes for imported
iron ore and declines in imported ore inventories at Chinese ports. As
iron ore supply is still plentiful, market conditions still favor the steelmakers. It is expected that
iron ore prices in the Chinese market will continue their downward movement in the coming week as traders in the spot market lack confidence and as overseas miners have cut their offer prices.