Spot iron ore prices retreated as futures fell



21 May 2018

Spot iron ore prices softened towards the end of the week as the fundamentals were marred by the lack of demand of Australian iron ore from Chinese steel mills as well as the sentiments crossing over from softened paper market which recorded decline across both iron ore and steel.

Looking at the benchmark of seaborne iron ore prices, Platts assessed the 62% Fe IODEX & TSI Iron Ore Fines at $66.70/dmt CFR North China on Friday. Meanwhile, TSI 58% Fe Fines, 1.5% Al, CFR Qingdao port closed the week at $54.20/dmt.

Paper market

Iron ore futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell on Friday, with the most traded September contract was seen trading at Yuan 478/dmt ($74.97/dmt), down 5/dmt on the day, and settling at Yuan 480.50/dmt, down Yuan 1/dmt over the same period.

Steel rebar futures also retreated, with the most actively traded October contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange last traded at Yuan 3,631/mt ($569.45/mt), down Yuan 48/mt on day, and last settled at Yuan 3,655/mt, down Yuan 19/mt over the same period.