India’s iron ore export sentiments have turned bearish this week after the decline in global iron ore prices on 16 Jun’21 and expectations of further sintering cuts being imposed in China. SteelMint’s weekly low-grade Indian iron ore fines (Fe 57%) export index decreased by $8.5/t w-o-w to stand at $88/t, FoB east coast India.
Buying inquiries for low-grade iron ore from China have slowed down. In the upcoming meeting scheduled for early July, the nation’s ruling Communist Party is expected to unveil new policies and legislation, with traders expecting more sintering cuts to be announced. This is expected to further weaken demand for low-grade ore.
In addition, logistical constraints and demurrage charges, not to forget the quarantine regulations in place for Indian cargoes in China, have pushed bids lower, a miner source informed SteelMint.
The spot price of iron ore Fe 62% fines plunged $8.7/t to $213.65/t, CFR China, on 16 Jun. Despite lower steel margins, medium-grade fines remained the choice of most buyers, while demand for low-grade fines weakened further. The spot market was bearish with limited trading activities seen yesterday.
Rationale:
- Price indicators- No trade was reported so far and thus not taken into consideration for the calculation, being given 0% weightage under T1 trade.
- SteelMint has received nine (9) indicative prices and offers during the publishing window, and seven (07) were considered for price calculation as T2 inputs and given a weightage of 100%.
Market highlights:
Iron ore stocks at Chinese ports decline further- Iron ore inventory at major Chinese ports decreased by around 0.4 mn t to 126.25 mn t this week compared with 128.65 mn t a week before, as per data maintained by SteelHome.
DCE iron ore futures rebound -: DCE iron ore futures Sep’21 contract closed today at RMB 1,223.5/t ($90) (up by RMB 46/t d-o-d). Raw material prices in the domestic market edged higher, buoyed by the country’s bureau of statistics data showing a record monthly output of 99.45 mn t of crude steel in May.
Freight rates inch up – Freight rates for 50,000-55,000 t export vessels from east coast India (Paradip) to China increased slightly to $ 24-25/t against last week’s rates at $ 21-23/t.
NMDC to auction iron ore slimes from Chhattisgarh – National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) will conduct an auction for 105,000 t of iron ore slimes (Fe 57/58%) on 23 Jun from its Bacheli mines in Chhattisgarh.
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