A total of 1.885 million mt of iron ores was traded for the week ended Sep 25, down 13.40% week-on-week as compared to the 2.302 million mt recorded last week.
Pilbara Blend fines (PBF) accounted most of the market shares, as the combination of low grade fines and high grade fines yielded little cost effectiveness as compared to the usage of medium grade fines.
Therefore, the PBF reached 45% of the total market share, followed by Jimblebar Blend fines at 16%, and then Yandi fines at 10.08% for the week ended at Sep 25.
More lump demand for the winter season
Most of the market participants expect more stringent and frequent sintering controls in the upcoming winter heating season.
Thus, lump demand received much supports from Chinese mills and saw its premium higher at 7.5 cents/dmtu by Sep 24.
There was also some demand for low grade ores, as some mills use them for sinter feed blending to save costs.
Sliding rebar prices from slow steel demand
China’s construction demand faced a slowdown with declining prices for rebar as the country headed toward Golden week holiday in early October.
According to Mysteel, the rebar price of HRB400 20mm dia rebar had softened for the eighth consecutive working days to almost a three-month low at RMB 3,760/mt, down RMB 4/mt day-on-day, as of Sep 24.
Similarly, the Tangshan billet prices also fell almost RMB 100 since mid-Sep to RMB 3,330/mt level on Friday, due to lower-than-expected steel demand.
