February 2012 | Steel Raw Materials
Iron ore price rise more timid than expected: Iron Ore Highlights
China’s domestic iron ore prices edged slightly higher on improved demand, but questions remain as to how long this will continue with weak fundamentals apparent in the longer term.
Spot prices climbed marginally higher on improved buying activity, but, as with the domestic market, the rise has not been at the level we expected. Prices of material from all covered markets went up last week with 58-59 Fe content Indian fines showing the largest gain of $3/tonne (2.5%) to $124/tonne CIF. The more mainstream 63.5% Fe content Indian fines traded at $148-150/tonne CFR on Monday.
Post-holiday restocking thus far disappoints Chinese miners
Domestic iron ore prices in China edged higher last week on slightly improved demand. Market activity was low during the previous three weeks and miners were unwilling to sell material, confident that prices rises were around the corner in coming weeks. The manufacturing PMI improved in January, rising from 50.3 in December to 50.5 highlighting some signs of improvement. The February figure should be more telling...
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