Market Commentary
Iron ore futures were largely flat on Thursday as investors weighed rising global supplies against declining steel inventories. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, the no. 4 exporter, said on Thursday that quarterly shipment climbed 5% and that it is considering options to increase cargoes from Australia. This came after Brazilian producer Vale is ramping up its production and BHP Group and the Rio Tinto are both on track to meet their respective annual guidance. Fortescue’s CEO Elizabeth Gaines said that there are a lot of fundamentals highlighting the underlying strength of China’s crude steel industry, including efforts to stimulate the economy. The latest MySteel seemed to confirm that China’s steel demand remains robust. Inventories of the five major carbon steel items have declined for a third consecutive week by -7.27% w.o.w to 9.81 million tonnes, the latest MySteel data showed. “Downside risk to prices is rising,” Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said in a report. “Steel demand is likely to remain relatively robust. But we see iron ore prices easing from recent highs, as growth rates in demand cool.”
Futures in Singapore were seen drifting near 114.0 for most of the morning. Dec traded at 111.0 and 111.2. Spreads also remained largely unchanged in the morning. Nov/Dec did however trade up to 3.05; Nov/Feb at 8.25; Dec/Mar at 7.7 and Jan/Mar at 5.05.
Physical Trades
Platform
Corex traded PB lump Fe 62.3% , 70,000 mt at Platts[2020-11-01,2020-11-30],62% /mt for Oct 30- Nov 8 loading.
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https://fisapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Iron-Ore-Report-29102020-Eng-Chn.pdf
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FIS Iron Ore Desk
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