Ferrous Market
– MySteel 45 ports iron ore inventory at 112.42 million tonnes, down 813,300 tonnes w-o-w. Daily evacuation 3.27 million tonnes down 12,600 tonnes w-o-w. Australia iron ore on ports at 57.86 million tonnes down 967,800 tonnes w-o-w. Brazil iron ore on ports at 28.45 million tonnes up 693,000 tonnes w-o-w. 185 ships at ports up 8 ships w-o-w.
– MySteel researched 247 blast furnace operation rate 91.41%, down 0.52% w-o-w, up 3.91% y-o-y. Blast utilisation rate 94.8%, down 0.36% w-o-w, up 6.85% y-o-y. Daily pig iron production 2.52 million tonnes, down 9,700 tonnes w-o-w, up 182,200 tonnes y-o-y.
– Indian miner association FIMI appeal to cancel the iron ore export prohibition from Karnataka, which was effected from the year 2010.
– South Africa port RBCT coal export reached 6.23 million tonnes in June, down 8.3% y-o-y, down 5.22% m-o-m.
Macro and Downstream
– China Loan Prime Rate unchanged for 4 months. Some analysts believed housing loans will become tight again in Q3 and Q4.
SGX Iron Ore 62% Futures& Options Open Interest(Aug 20th)
– Futures 82,729,300 tonnes(increase 659,600 tonnes)
– Options 120,646,900 tonnes(increase 1,965,000 tonnes)
Verdict
– Short-term neutral to bearish.