India’s iron ore export market remained silent this week witnessing limited trades amid price volatility. SteelMint’s weekly low-grade Indian iron ore fines (Fe 57%) export index fell marginally by $1/t to $87/t FoB east coast India.
Demand for Indian low grade ore continued to remain weak on stricter pollution control norms in China. No confirmed deal for the low-grade has been reported so far this week. There were limited offers heard in the market due to sharp price volatility seen this week. Also, there were reports of port delays and additional port charges being levied on Indian cargoes due to cyclone & COVID restrictions.
Chinese spot iron ore fines Fe 62% index moved down by $20/t to $190.8/t CFR China yesterday. However, with slight rebound in iron ore futures today, the spot prices have also shown a recovery.
Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) iron ore futures fell by 8% (w-o-w) as steel futures extended declines. DCE iron ore futures Sep’21 contract closed today at RMB 1046.5/t ($163.97) , up by RMB 52 against yesterday.
Rationale:
- Price indicators- No confirmed deal was reported this week. Hence not considered for price calculation and kept the weightage 0% under T1 trade.
- SteelMint has received seven (7) indicative prices and offers during the publishing window, and all were considered for price calculation as T2 inputs and given a weightage of 100%.
Market highlights:
Iron ore stocks at Chinese ports up marginally- Iron ore inventory at major Chinese ports increased by around 0.47 mn t to 128.5 mn t this week as compared with 128.03 mn t, a week before as per the data maintained by SteelHome.
Freight rates stable – Freight rates for 50,000-55,000t export vessels from east coast India (Paradip) to China stable w-o-w at $ 25/t.
Domestic iron ore prices unchanged – Odisha based miners have kept domestic offers stable. Price indications for Fe 57% fines are at INR 4,200-4,400/t ex-mines, including Royalty, DMF & NMET.
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