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Forecasts and market analysis based on price assessments from Fastmarkets MB and Fastmarkets AMM

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October 2013 | Steel Raw Materials


We have left our price forecasts unchanged for next month: Iron Ore Highlights


China’s daily crude steel output continued to drop in mid-October as the prolonged sluggishness in the steel market and a squeeze on profits have led some mills to consider production cuts in a bid to support prices.

Last week, spot trading was thin as most steel mills have finished the post-holiday restocking and adopted a wait-and-see stance given that steel prices were still weak and the direction of reform by China’s new leadership remained uncertain. The continuing steel market weakness has started to weigh on iron ore prices. MBR notes that Chinese import fines prices (Fe 63.5%) slipped by 1.1% week-on-week to $133.50/tonnes CFR last Friday though prices for pellet rose further 1.5% over the same period to $168.00/tonne CFR (Fe 65-66%) on the back of stronger fundamentals. In the domestic market, prices also rose modestly again. In fact, prices for concentrate rose 0.2% from a week earlier to $162.16/tonne, while prices for pellet edged up 0.3% to $179.90/tonne (average of selected prices). ...

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