Iron Ore Market Update
Market Commentary
Iron ore rebounded on Friday, but any gains were largely capped as concerns over faltering steel demand linger. Some market participants have likened the uptick to the minimal increase of steel inventories. According to the data published by Mysteel, steel inventories among Chinese steel mills had only gained by a paltry 0.3% from a week ago to 6.39 million metric tonnes despite of the low steel demand and consumption. However, sentiment remains very bearish as many are expecting further and steeper output cut for the remainder of the year. On top of that, there are also concerns that Beijing will look to rein in the property market, with Suzhou and Jinan among a slew of Chinese cities now delaying land sales as Chinese regulators is considering measures to stabilize land prices. Meanwhile, several Chinese steel mills are thought to be proceeding with planned maintenance period and might offer their excess iron ore cargoes for August and September loading to the spot market. China iron ore stockpiles at major ports rose 1.3% to 127.96 million tonnes in the week ending Aug. 20, according to Mysteel Global data compiled by Bloomberg.
MySteel 45 ports iron ore inventories at 127.96 million tonnes, up 1.675 million tonnes w-o-w.
Daily evacuation 2.95 million tonnes, down 41,000 tonnes w-o-w.
Australia iron ore 64.15 million tonnes, up 29,000 tonnes w-o-w.
Brazil iron ore 36.58 million tonnes, up 1.67 million tonnes w-o-w.
185 ships at ports, down 14.
Futures in Singapore briefly ticked up above $140 during morning. Sep was seen trading mostly between 137.7 and 138.9. Q4 traded down from 135.0 to 133.85. spreads were wider today, with C22/23 around 20.30. Sep/Oct traded down from 2.4 to 2.35.
Physical Trades
Platform
Corex traded 170,000 mt PBF Fe 61% at $136.90/mt for Sep 25-Oct 4 loading.
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