Iron Ore Market in Brief
KEY MARKET DRIVERS
Prices fall in wake of futures retreat: China’s steel and iron ore futures had trended up since Wednesday night, but with the benchmark May iron ore contract ending the day just over 1% down on Wednesday’s settlement level, they dropped on Thursday afternoon.
Physical iron ore trading has remained lackluster during the day, both at Chinese ports and in the seaborne market. Port prices fell later in the day in line with the decline in futures. However, cargoes on such big vessels could not even find buyers at flat to the index in the secondary market, sources said.
China is set to cut its VAT rate from 16% to 13% from April 1st for industries including iron ore importing. Some offers and transactions have already been made on a 13% VAT basis for spot iron ore at Chinese ports. The tax decrease will lead to some adjustments in port prices, as a trader in east China said.
62% FE IRON ORE INDEX: $84.68 per MT CFR Qingdao, down $0.43 per MT.
62% FE PILBARA BLEND FINES INDEX: $83.80 per MT CFR Qingdao, down $0.43 per MT.
62% FE IRON ORE INDEX-LOW ALUMINA: $86.93 per MT CFR Qingdao, down $0.17 per MT.
58% FE PREMIUM INDEX: $76.97 per MT CFR Qingdao, down $0.12 per MT.
65% FE IRON ORE INDEX: $96.40 per MT CFR Qingdao, down $0.10 per MT.
62% FE CHINA PORT PRICE INDEX: 623 Yuan per wet metric MT (implied 62% Fe China Port Price $82.34 per dry MT), down 3 Yuan per WMT
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“For the benchmark 62% Fe product of Pilbara Blend fines, the tax cut by 3 percentage points could mean a price decrease of about 16 Yuan ($2.40) per ton based on current market prices,” a Chinese mill source said.
Report By: Encieh Arbabi
