Seaborne iron ore prices move up marginally

23 july 2018

Spot iron ore saw some recovery as the prices moved up due to fall in inventory of steel in China. However, it may be short lived as the major steelmaking city in China, Tangshan ordered its steel mills, coke producers and utilities to cut output further for the month or so, in addition to the 10 percent-15 percent cuts imposed from March to November.

Looking at the benchmark for seaborne spot iron ore prices, Platts assessed the 62% Fe IODEX & TSI Iron Ore Fines at $64.80/dmt CFR North China on Friday. Meanwhile, TSI 58% Fe Fines, 1.5% Al, CFR Qingdao port closed the week at $54.80/dmt.

Futures Market

Taking a look at the futures trade, iron ore contract traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange strengthened Friday, with the most liquid September contract last trading at Yuan 472.5/dmt ($69.53/dmt), up Yuan 5/dmt on the day, and settling at Yuan 469.5/dmt, down Yuan 1/dmt over the same period.

Meanwhile, the steel rebar futures recovered from early falls on Friday, extending gains into a third session and marking their biggest weekly jump in seven on concerns about lean supply. The most actively traded October contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange last traded at Yuan 3,985/mt ($588.9/mt), up Yuan 22/mt on the day, and last settled at Yuan 3,979/mt, down Yuan 5/mt.