Spot iron lump premium moved up further this week prior to the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.
Spot iron lump premium which was assessed at USD 0.085/dry MT, CFR China last week has moved up by USD 0.0925/dry MT, CFR China in week 6.
Chinese steel mills continued with stocking iron ore prior to the week long holidays beginning from 8 Feb’16-13 Feb’16. In a hope that construction activities may resume after the holidays the steel makers stocked more iron ore inventories in order to meet the expected demand.
Another factor which augmented rise in Chinese iron ore prices was slower shipments from Australia and Brazil due to bad weather.
Since beginning of 2016, spot iron lump premium has moved up by 48%. In the beginning of 2016 spot iron lump premium was assessed at USD 0.0625/dry MT, CFR China.
China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) anticipates that the rebound in iron ore prices will come to an end as mills are done with restocking of iron ore. And amid increased supply prices will decline in rest half of Feb’16.
Spot pellet premium up by USD 1/MT W-o-W
Spot pellet premium for Fe 65% BF grade pellets increased by USD 1/dry MT unit to USD 13/dry MT unit, CFR China.
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