Market Commentary
Iron ore futures remained subdued as investors cast doubt over the steel demand outlook. Iron ore plunged as much as 9% this week as China stepped up efforts to rein in its steel sector. According to Mysteel, Steelmakers in Jiangsu, Fujian and Yunnan were asked to reduce output from last year’s level. At the same time, local authorities were also asked to closely monitor steel prices to prevent market manipulation and overspeculation. Investors now expect demand to drop further as steel mills in China were heard to have suspended their blast furnaces to comply with the output reduction goal. To make matters worse, the recent floods in Henan have caused havoc in the region. Transportation of iron ore was heavily disrupted at two of the 11 mills surveyed, according to Mysteel, impacting 20,000 tonnes of daily steel output. Most mills in the Zhengzhou area have suspended scrap steel collection, and production at some blast furnaces was halted in Anyang due to the floods. Meanwhile, iron ore port inventories continue to pile up. According to the latest weekly data by Mysteel, iron ore stockpiles added 2.96 million tonnes this week to 128.48 million tonnes.
Futures in Singapore hovered around $197 for most of the morning in London. Aug traded mostly between 196.7 and 197.1 while Sep traded between 192.6 and 193.0. Aug/Sep traded down from 4.25 to 4.15. Cal 22/23 was lowered at 35.65.
Physical Trades
Platform
GO traded 80,000 mt Carajas fines at MB Sep 65% index +$7.40/mt for bill of lading at Jul 13.
Corex traded 170,000 mt PBF at Platts Sep 62% index + $6.10/mt for Aug 25- Sep 3 loading.
Click below link to open today’s Singapore Iron Ore Report
https://fisapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Iron-Ore-Report-23072021-Eng-Chn.pdf
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FIS Iron Ore Desk
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