Seaborne Iron Ore Prices fall below USD 90/MT; India Steelmakers to benefit

Spot Iron ore prices in Chinese market continued to remain under pressure owing to increased supplies from Australian & Brazilian miners.

Prices have breached USD 90/MT levels for Fe 62% Iron ore and currently trading at around USD 89/MT. Prices will touch 2009 levels after any further correction.

Increasing supplies from Brazilian, Australian and South African miners in recent times have put pressure on seaborne Iron ore market.

Falling Prices will benefit Indian Steelmakers

Indian steelmakers, who have been struggling to source Iron ore from the domestic market after mining bans in key states like Odisha, Goa and Karnataka, will benefit from falling Iron ore prices in global market.

Recently, Indian steelmakers like JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Visa and Tata Sponge have significantly increased imports owing to tight supply in domestic market.

Indian imports are likely to touch 8 MnT in FY15 against 0.3 MnT in FY14.

Current prices for South African Lump of Fe 64% are at around USD 104/MT CFR India West Coast for Panamax vessel and around USD 90-91/MT for Australian Fines of Fe 62%; to be delivered in September.

Indian Iron ore Imports 

Quantity in MT
* Till 26 Aug’14
Source: SteelMint Research

Iron Ore Exports from India

Iron ore exports from India continue to fall owing to mining restrictions and falling prices in global market. India had exported merely 222,000 MT in the month of July, out of which majority was exported by NMDC.