A total of 0.6 million mt of iron ores was traded for the week ended May 28, as the market toned down after Chinese authority’s pledge of commodity price control into their latest five-year plan.
Therefore, the steel prices soon traversed downward, which affected steel margins as trade participants became more cautious in trading.
During the week, the trades volume of PBF accounted the largest market share at 29% during the week, then followed by Carajas fines at 28%, which tied with BRBF at 28% too.
More interests for low grade fines
There was some interest in low grade fines due to the narrowing steel margins as mills adopted cost saving measures in low steel prices environment.
In the meantime, there was some supply tightness for low grade fines, as it was heard that port stocks for Yandi fines were low, while Indian fines stocks also dropped under the 4 million mt mark among northern Chinese ports from the usual 5 million mt level.
Nevertheless, most of the mills still prefer mainstream fines like PBF as it was heard that not many mills have changed their ore blend yet.
Lump demand stabilizes on tight supply
The lump demand remained firm due to the tight supplies of mainstream lump and low inventory among river ports.
Due to the supply tightness, it was heard that some lump demand had shifted to non-mainstream lump instead.
However, some trade participants expected the supply tightness of lump to ease in coming weeks, which may soften lump premium in near term.
