Spot Iron ore prices dropped
further on Wednesday as Chinese steel mills have held their purchases due to
sluggish steel demand.
Offers for Spot iron ore fell by
$1-$3/MT on Wednesday with Australian Pilbara fines quoted at $141-$143/MT and
Newman fines at $146-$148. Quotes for Indian fines Fe 63.5/63 also decreased by
$2 to reach $147-148/MT.
Having replenished iron ore
inventories over the past three weeks, Chinese steel producers are holding back
on more purchases and this has halted the recent price rally that had lifted
spot iron ore prices by 24 percent this month.
“Though steel spot and
futures prices showed signs of stabilizing, small and medium mills have largely
restocked (iron ore) to comfortable levels and are happy to sit tight for
now,” said Steel Index in a note.
There were hardly any deals in
the spot iron ore market in recent days, but traders said they are looking at a
tender by global miner BHP Billiton which closes later on Wednesday. So, this might
set the tone for the market, said a physical trader in Singapore, adding BHP
will be selling Australian Newman and Yandi iron ore fines at the tender.
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