Spot iron ore dipped marginally towards the end of week

7th May 2018

Weak buying interest from the Chinese steel mills kept the benchmark prices slightly above 66/dmt mark despite of some gains recorded earlier in the week, as the major participants swayed away from the active trade. Overall demand is waned as iron ore couldn’t find support from the steel prices.

Also, the iron ore prices slipped in line with paper trade on Friday, which was the first day as China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange opened up its futures market for the foreign investors.

Looking at the benchmark iron ore prices, Platts assessed the 62% Fe IODEX & TSI Iron Ore Fines at $66.10/dmt CFR North China on Friday. Meanwhile, TSI 58% Fe Fines, 1.5% Al, CFR Qingdao port closed the week at $53.60/dmt.

Futures market

Iron ore futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange slipped on Friday, with the most liquid September contract last trading at Yuan 471.5/dmt ($74.23/dmt), down Yuan 2.5/dmt on the day, and settling at Yuan 469/dmt, down Yuan 8/dmt over the same period.

Steel rebar futures slipped as well, with the most actively traded October contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange last traded at Yuan 3664/mt ($576.82/mt), down Yuan 9/mt on the day, and last settled at Yuan 3663/mt, down Yuan 32/mt over the same period.