Iron ore prices firm up on positive sentiments

30 july 2018

Iron ore prices in the sea-borne market rallied a bit in the latter half of the week mainly on sentiments as the steel prices in China continued to rise mainly on the anticipation that the production steel will fall as pollution control measures kicks in.

Looking at the benchmark for seaborne spot iron ore prices, Platts assessed the 62% Fe IODEX & TSI Iron Ore Fines at $67.35/dmt CFR North China on Friday. Meanwhile, TSI 58% Fe Fines, 1.5% Al, CFR Qingdao port closed the week at $57.35/dmt.

Futures Market

Moving onto the futures, the iron ore future contracts traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange also strengthened Friday, with the most liquid September contract last trading at Yuan 491.50/dmt ($72.34/dmt), up Yuan 16/dmt on the day, and settling at Yuan 485.50/dmt, up Yuan 10.50/dmt over the same period.

Steel rebar futures continued to gain support Friday, with the most actively traded October contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange last traded at Yuan 4,126/mt ($607.28/mt), up Yuan 109/mt on day, and last settled at Yuan 4,068/mt, up Yuan 66/mt over the same period. The spot price of square billet in Tangshan was Yuan 3,790/mt ($557.83/mt) ex-stock Tangshan Friday, up Yuan 30/mt on the day.