China: Demand for Iron ore weak, market on passive pace.

• Shanghai Rebar faces the worst week since May
• CBMX; tenders of 170,000 MT of PB fines sold
• Winter eats up steel demand
• State owned enterprises under great scrutiny
• Vale sell its entire holding to aluminum producer Hydro

The market witnessed a down fall as more and more sellers were trying to liquidate from their positions after hearing regretful news on the steel and iron ore segment. The news was heard from the third Plenary Session of the 18^th CPC Central Committee Tuesday.

Shanghai Rebar decline to the lowest of 2 week; drop by 1.6 percent, witnessing the worst week since May.

The Dalian Commodity Exchange dropped almost 1 percent to settle at Yuan 931/MT, down slightly for the second week in a row for Iron ore, also for delivery in May.

Billet rebounded RMB 10 to RMB 3000.

Actively traded contracts for May 2014 delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange also closed showing down trend, low by 1.1%, at Yuan 3591/Mt near to the lowest of this session.

A tenders of 170,000 MT of PB fines sold at USD 136/MT through CBMX, laycan 11.30-12.9, still USD 1/MT beyond most acceptable USD 135/MT to market player. The other major transactions were:

• Rio Tinto sold 170,000 Mt 61.5-Fe PB Fines at USD 137/MT.
• Brazilian Fines sold 195,000 MT of 64.2-Fe at 62% index average plus USD 8/Mt through Global ORE.
• Yandi fines sold 70,000 MT of 57.5-Fe at USD 124/MT through Global ORE

Benchmark spot iron ore market, rise by less than USD 1 this week.

The Steel mills are buying iron ore in spot market, but very carefully. They are doing so, because they lack in inventory but in a conservative manner because they feel the iron ore price are quite high and the steel prices are at their lowest in the session.

Another factor contributing to weaker ore demand was the concern that state owned enterprises in China would be under greater scrutiny by the government as it tries to drive smaller and economically inefficient manufacturers out of their respective industries.

Brazilian mining group Vale has sold its entire holding in Norwegian aluminum producer Norsk Hydro, raising precedes of USD 1.822 billion.