Global Iron Ore Prices Drop below USD 40/MT

Since beginning of this fiscal iron ore prices in seaborne market have slashed by 25%.

Global iron ore prices descended further today by 2.2% and stood at USD 39.4/MT for Fe 62% fines.

Weak steel demand and rising iron ore port inventories continue to keep iron ore prices low. As per reports, among the 23 main steel units in northern province of China, 10 (having total capacity of 19.7 MnT) have shut down. While the rest are running at low capacity utilization.

China’s manufacturing sector weakened further in Nov’15. As per National Bureau of Statistics, China’s official purchasing managers index fell to 49.6 in Nov’15 – lowest since Aug’12. However Caixin China composite PMI data (which includes both manufacturing & services) indicated that the business activities in China moved up slightly to 50.5 in Nov’15 from 49.9 in Oct’15. Thus it can be inferred that China’s manufacturing sector slowed but service sector showed marginal improvement in Nov’15.

Roy Hill’s first iron ore export shipment from Port Hedland has been delayed by a week’s time. The project is expected to add 55 MnT iron ore to the seaborne market.

Global Iron Ore Prices

CNF China prices
Source: SteelMint