Iron ore prices gain marginally in the week

10-December-2018

Spot iron ore prices saw marginal gains in the week but the market participants are not very optimistic as the Chinese demand is slated to falter in the near term. Utilisation rates at steel mills across China dropped 0.83 percentage points from the previous week to 65.88 percent on Friday, data compiled by Mysteel consultancy showed.

Looking at the benchmark for seaborne spot iron ore prices, Platts assessed the 62% Fe IODEX & TSI Iron Ore Fines at $66.95/dmt CFR North China on Friday. Meanwhile, TSI 58% Fe Fines, 1.5% Al, CFR Qingdao port closed the week at $60.55/dmt.

Further, Dalian iron ore futures rose 0.7 percent to 475 yuan a tonne. Chinese coking coal futures jumped to their highest in nearly 15 months closing week at 1,455 yuan. However, rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.4 percent to 3,397 yuan.