Monday, November 29,
Iron ore prices steadied near 6-1/2-month highs on Monday, supported by fewer Indian supplies and demand from Chinese steel mills.
The Steel Index 62 percent iron ore benchmark stood at $166.50 a tonne, cost and freight in China, on Friday, versus $166.40 in the previous session.
63.5 percent grade Indian fines are being offered at $170-$172/MT.
“Iron ore prices are still witnessing a mild increase,” said a trader in Rizhao in China’s eastern Shandong province. “Chinese mills are still building stocks ahead of the New Year and steel prices have been inching up.”
Despite China’s campaign to limit steel production from September to meet energy efficiency targets, crude steel output for the whole of 2010 was still expected to hit a record 624 million tonnes, CISA said last week, with apparent consumption up about 5.6 percent to 596 million tonnes.
“Iron ore is regaining its premium commodity status, rebounding strongly over the past couple of months as confidence returns to the Chinese steel market,” ANZ said in its November report.
An ongoing ban on iron ore exports from the southern Karnataka state in India also kept supplies of high-grade material limited, traders said. India’s Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Karnataka state government asking why it must not admit an appeal by a miner that challenged the ban.
Prices of forward swaps cleared by the Singapore Exchange eased modestly, with the December contract slipping 33 cents to $161.67 a tonne and January was down by 75 cents at $157.33, February eased 33 cents to $156 and March also dipped 33 cents to $154.67.
Source: Reuters
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