Market Verdict on Iron Ore：
• Neutral to bullish.
Macro
• Balkin, Secretary General of OPEC, said that the oil and gas industry was being “Besieged” due to years of insufficient investment. He added that if Iran and Venezuela were allowed to bring more supplies, the shortage could be alleviated. Balkin predicted that the main global demand for oil will continue to increase until 2045.
Iron Ore Key Indicators:
• Platts62 $112.35, -1.95, MTD $113.25. Chinese steel mills expected that margin could recover with initiative control on production in June and July. Thus, Chinese blast furnace utilisation rate drop by more than 3% in June on the month. Seaborne float premium on PBF silently recovered from $0.55 to $0.95 on MOC platform over previous three weeks, however lack of buying interested on float basis cargoes. JMBF cargoes saw ample interests and trades with a $8.7-8.9 discount in current three weeks because the improvement on quality. Previously BHP narrowed term contract discounts for July JMBF from 11% to 9.25%, widened discount for MACF from 2.75% to 4%.the per 1% alumina differential adjustments for the 1-2.5% band fell by 35 cents/dmt to $4.2/dmt on the day.
• Brazil foreign trade department SECEX indicated that Brazil iron ore export 32.12 million tons, up 26.4% from May, down 4.3% on the year. Average export price $97.6/mt, down 37.8% on the year.
SGX Iron Ore 62% Futures& Options Open Interest (Jul 6th)
• Futures 78,653,000 tons(Increase 1,053,600 tons)
• Options 76,075,000 tons(Increase 994,900 tons)
Steel Key Indicators
• India’s Q2 crude steel output rises 12.2% on year to 31.39 million mt, however the slow down in automobile industry may decrease the consumption in the next few months.
Coal Indicators
• Australia PLV market saw huge correction during this week. FOB PLV corrected $30 for the last two days to $270. The significant drop was related to an Unbranded HCCA cargo offer down $25 at $265 while the bid has yet firmed from any level.
