Ferrous Market
– MySteel 45 ports iron ore inventories at 124.38 million tonnes, up 263,300 tonnes w-o-w. Daily evacuation 3.1876 million tonnes, up 222,600 tonnes w-o-w. Australia iron ore 57.55 million tonnes, down 1.14 million tonnes w-o-w. Brazil iron ore 43.599 million tonnes, up 1.66 million tonnes w-o-w. 178 ships at ports, up 6.
– Vale informs that a fire occurred on January 14th in one of the eight ship loaders at the Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal (PDM), in São Luís, Maranhão. The fire was controlled, without casualties or environmental damage. Vale expects to conclude the CN6 maintenance activities in the first half of 2021, therefore without impacts on shipments and production in 2021.
– Vale recovered Vargem Grande pellets production, which was stopped since Feburary 2019, expected 4 -5 million tonnes production in the year 2021.
– Mysteel researched 247 blast furnace operation rate at 83.2%, down 1.04% w-o-w. Utilisation rate 91.12%, down 0.12% w-o-w. Daily pig iron production 2.4255 million tonnes, down 3,200 tonnes.
– MySteel 64 steel mills total sintered iron ore inventory 18.997 million tones. Total iron ore inventory turnover in 30 days.
– BHP and Rio Tinto accepted notice on the Hurricane Kalumburu arriving north-eastern Pilbara coast. Ports had already cleared and Hurricane expected to leave port late Saturday.
– Tangshan 35 over 126 blast furnaces started maintenance, weekly impact 592,000 tonnes of steel production. Utilisation rate 77.41%, down 1.43% w-o-w, down 9.22% y-o-y.
Macro
– China 2020 produced 401,096 excavators, up 36.7% y-o-y, a historical high.
SGX Iron Ore 62% Futures& Options Open Interest(Jan 20th)
– Futures 81,947,000 tonnes(increase 2,141,600 tonnes)
– Options 46,369,200 tonnes(increase 625,000 tonnes)
Verdict
– Short-term neutral