Iron ore futures rebounded from previous one-month low amid high port inventory that affected iron ore demand.
The most-traded iron ore for January 2021 delivery on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange was flattish and booked a small gain of 0.20% day-on-day to RMB 768 on Tuesday.
Similarly, the steel rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were flattish throughout the trading session and went up little by 0.08% day-on-day to RMB 3,616 per mt.
Rising demand for Brazilian fines
Market participants expected the demand for Carajas fine to rise in near term due to limited domestic supply, amid higher utilization in blast furnaces.
Moreover, the decrease in recent Brazilian shipments may support prices in short term. As Mysteel recorded a total of 7.4 million mt of Brazilian iron ore shipment over the Oct 19-25 period, down 337,000 mt or 4.4% on weekly basis.
On the demand side, Chinese mills were heard to increase their usage of high-grade ores like Carajas fines for the low grade-high grade combination in the blast furnace mix to reduce output costs and improved efficiency.
China increases iron ore imports from non-Australian and Brazilian sources
China imported 108.5 million mt of iron ore in September, up 8% month-on-month, according to General Administration of Customs.
Despite the rising imports, the total exports from Australian miners like Rio Tinto, BHP, Fortescue Metals Group and Roy Hill had fallen by 2.4% month-on-month to 70.6 million mt during September.
The iron ore imports from Brazilian miner, Vale also dropped by 2% month-on-month to 23 million mt in September.
On the contrary, China’s imports from non-Australian and Brazilian sources shown significant increase. According to custom data, the iron ore imports from Ukraine, Russia and Sweden rose by 37%, 77% and 76% on-month to 3 million mt, 1.9 million mt and 1 million mt, respectively.