Iron Ore Market Update
Market Commentary
Iron ore remained resilient as investors took bets on China not allowing steel demand to collapse while its economic prospects remain uncertain. According to World Steel Association (WSA), China’s steel production dropped by 8.4% year-on-year to 86.8 million metric tonnes in July as China retched up efforts to clean up its steel sector. However, steel production has indeed risen in recent days, with daily steel output up 4.6% from the first ten days of August to 2.14 million tonnes during the 11-20 August period, just as the industry emerges from the seasonal lull, data by China’s Iron and Steel Association (CISA) showed. Meanwhile, global steel production registered a 3.3% monthly increase in July to 161.7 million metric tonnes while global steel output between January and July increased by 12.4% to 1.17 billion metric tonnes, WSA data showed.
Futures in Singapore fell to as low as 145.50 in Asia but had since rebounded to around $148 in London. Sep was seen trading up from 145.0 to 148.0 while Oct traded up to as high as 145.75. Spreads were also wider, with 22/23 at 22.4. Sep/Nov traded 7.2 while Oct/Nov traded up from 2.6 to 2.65.
Physical Trades
Platform
GO traded 110,000 mt Newman Fines at $148.10/mt, for Sep 26- Oct 5 loading.
GO traded 170,000 mt Carajas fines at MB Oct 65% index + $3.75/mt for bill of lading at Aug 18.
Corex traded 130,000 mt Newman fines Fe 62.7% at Platts Sep 62% – $4/mt for Sep 1-10 loading.
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FIS Iron Ore Desk
ferrous@freightinvestor.com
London Number +44 (0) 207 090 1120
Singapore: +65 6535 5189
Shanghai: +86 21 6335 4002