Iron ore slips below $65/dmt on Friday

30th April 2018

Upcoming holidays along with weakened demand kept the spot iron ore prices below $65/dmt mark, as participants stayed away from the active trade. Lack of clarity on the sintering production cuts plan in Jiangsu Province and more frequent temporary production cuts in different regions of China have hampered overall demand, especially for seaborne iron ore fines cargoes.

Onto the benchmark iron ore prices, Platts assessed the 62% Fe IODEX & TSI Iron Ore Fines at $64.95/dmt CFR North China on Friday. Meanwhile, TSI 58% Fe Fines, 1.5% Al, CFR Qingdao port closed the week at $52.45/dmt.

Futures Trade

Iron ore futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell Friday, with the most liquid September contract last trading at Yuan 460.5/dmt ($72.64/dmt), down Yuan 5/dmt on the day, and settling at Yuan 463.5/dmt, down Yuan 3/dmt over the same period.

Steel rebar futures strengthened, with the most actively-traded October contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange last traded at Yuan 3593/mt ($566.78/mt), up Yuan 35/mt on the day, and last settled at Yuan 3574/mt, up Yuan 9/mt over the same period.