A total of 1.375 million mt of iron ores was traded for the week ended Dec 31, as trades picked up with restocking activities for the pre-Lunar New Year period.
There was some easing of output restrictions for mills that met the environmental requirement, which led to increase in productions.
During the week, the trades volume of PBF accounted the largest market share at 39%, then followed by Yandi fines at 31%, and then Mac fines at 20%.
More restocking activities among portside
There were much better restocking activities seen on portside, while more mills were heard to interested in utilizing the low-high grade fines combination for the blast furnace mix.
Thus, there were steady buying interests for low grade fines like Super Special Fines and Fortescue Blend Fines, while some buyers were heard to be put off by quality variation found in Jimblebar fines that resulted in lower premiums.
In the meantime, steel margins had improved steadily in H2 December as trade sources stated that HRC and rebars margins maintained at the healthy range of RMB 600/wmt and RMB 500/wmt respectively.
Lump premium benefits from declining stocks
Lump premiums were expected to rise due to declining lump stocks at portside that were lower than previous year’s levels from bad weather conditions.
Trade sources also stated healthy pre-Lunar New Year restocking activities among Chinese ports, which might intensify further in Jan-Feb 2022 period.
Moreover, lump premiums were also supported by the ongoing sintering curb measures that increased the consumption of direct feeds for mills.
