SteelMint’s India pellet (Fe 63%, 3% Al) export index (FOB east coast) stands at $160/t, lower by $12/t w-o-w. Chinese buying interest weakened after a significant drop in global iron ore prices seen in the past two days.
Not many traders and Chinese buyers were active due to rising Covid cases in the last one week, sources said. This also led mills to lower their steel production, weighing down prices.
Sellers are all looking for bids at $195-200/t, CFR China for standard grade pellets Fe 63%, 3% Al. But, no firm buying interest was seen at the quoted offers. Bid-offer disparities have limited trade.
Rationale
- One deal was reported so far this week for 55,000t pellets (Fe 63%, 3% Al) at $145/t FoB for early Apr shipment, but that has not been considered, into the price calculation under T1 trade and given no weightage. Click here for methodology.
- Six (06) indicative offers, and bids were received, and three (03) were considered for calculation of the index, given 100% weightage.
Market highlights-
- Global iron ore prices decrease w-o-w: The benchmark Fe 62% fines index decreased by $26.7/t on 15 Mar’22 to $135.55/t CFR China. Seaborne iron ore prices fell d-o-d on 15 March as market participants were cautious about procuring seaborne cargoes due to strong fluctuations in prices.
- DCE iron ore futures inch down w-o-w: Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) for May contract closed today (at 3 PM) at RMB 804/t, up RMB 48/t ($8/t) d-o-d. However, on a weekly basis, prices edged down by around RMB 8.5/t ($1/t).
- Port inventories in China stable w-o-w: Pellet inventory at China’s major ports stood stable at 4.5 mnt this week against a week ago.
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