Iron ore prices in China have posted a further sharp drop today, Friday, January 12, losing almost $5/mt on the day and down $9/mt over the past week. The main reason for the continuing downtrend is slackening demand due to reduced steel production amid maintenance works being carried out by mills. Moreover, some market sources believe that prices for iron ore had to be corrected to more reasonable levels since the previous levels of $140/mt CFR and higher were making steel production unprofitable.
Iron ore fines with 62 percent Fe content have lost $4.8/mt today to $131.2/mt CFR, down $9.1/mt from that seen one week ago. Brazilian iron ore with 65 percent Fe has dropped by $4.45/mt on January 12 to $142.35/mt CFR.
15 deals for a total of 192,100 mt have been concluded at the Corex platform today, but all were smaller volumes than in early January, including 45,700 mt of 63.3 percent of fines at RMB 1,020/mt ($144/mt), for delivery at Lianyungang port, and 21,971 mt of 62.98 percent of fines transacted at RMB 1,010/mt ($142.2/mt), for delivery to other ports.
Iron ore at Dalian Commodity Exchange has lost 1.76 percent today to RMB 948,5/mt, down by 5.15 percent over the past week.