Spot iron ore prices in China continued to move up this week
on restocking activities by Chinese mills & tight supply from India
Highlights of the week:
* Quotes for Fe 63.5/63 of Indian fines reached $189/MT i.e.
up by $2-3/MT from the previous week.
* Global miner BHP Billiton sold three cargoes comprising
62-grade Newman iron ore fines and 58-grade Yandi fines at $183 and $159/MT,
respectively, this week
* China Iron and Steel Association showed annualized
national production of steel running at over 700 million tonnes in the first
days of August, indicating for a robust demand in the coming days as well
* Supreme Court of India extended iron ore mining ban to 2
more districts in Karnataka, further squeezing the supply to the domestic steel companies & the export ban on iron ore still remained intact
Comment by:
Traders: “The combination of super-strong Chinese demand
and limited supply is likely to keep prices firm in the near term and
downside is limited. However, any negative news flow in the next couple of
weeks, like another rate hike could see a pullback in buying”
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