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Chinese prices of imported iron ore rose again on May 20 – albeit by a negligible $0.3/dmt – to take Mysteel’s price index for 62% seaborne iron ore fines to $100.65/dmt CFR Qingdao and refreshing the five-year high. Also, the 62% portside iron ore fines price index rose by a further Yuan 2/wmt ($0.3/wmt) on day to reach Yuan 725/wmt FOT Qingdao and including 13% VAT, also the highest in five years.
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Both buy and sell prices of Chinese iron ore concentrates increased again over the May 13-17 week, rising by Yuan 5-20/tonne ($0.7-2.9/t) and mirroring the trend in prices of imported iron ore which surged to new highs, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released late last Friday.
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Coking coal stocks at plants operated by the 230 Chinese independent coke makers surveyed weekly by Mysteel grew 2.4% or 335,900 tonnes on week to 14.5 million tonnes as of May 16, enough to last the makers for 15.74 days, or 0.23 day up on week, according to Mysteel’s data published on May 17. Healthy coke margins and the bullishness of the domestic coke market had encouraged the plants to buy more feedstocks, market sources explained.
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Good fundamentals pushed Chinese prices of imported iron ore to five-year highs over the past week, as Mysteel reported, a climb that has annoyed domestic steel mills when their profit margins on finished steel continue to languish at relatively low levels.
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Chinese domestic steel prices are expected to stay rangebound during the coming term under the impact of oversupply in the domestic market and the escalation of Sino-US trade friction, according to the latest monthly report of China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) released on May 17.
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Mysteel’s Q235 150mm square Tangshan billet price, the weathervane of China’s steel market, searched for direction over the weekend, first losing then recovering Yuan 10/tonne ($1.4/t) on Saturday and Sunday to end at Yuan 3,560/t EXW and including the 13% VAT as of May 19, unchanged from last Friday.
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China produced 68.5 million tonnes of run-of-mine (ROM) iron ore throughout April, lower by 1.3 million tonnes or 1.9% on month but higher by 1.2% on year, according to the latest statistics from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on May 17.
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Chinese prices of imported iron ore in both the spot and futures markets jumped to record highs on May 17, thanks to strong fundamentals recently, so market sources suggested on Friday.
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Mysteel’s 62% portside iron ore fines index surged another Yuan 18/wmt ($2.6/wmt) on day to Yuan 723/wmt FOT Qingdao and including the 13% VAT on May 17, a five-year high. The 62% seaborne iron ore fines index reached $100.35/dmt CFR Qingdao on Friday, higher by $2.4/dmt on day and also a new five-year high.
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Rescue efforts are being made to locate missing mineworkers after an underground iron ore mine in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province was flooded early on May 17, with nine people still being stuck in the mine pit, according to a news from China’s Ministry of Emergency Management released early Friday morning.
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Chinese iron ore prices, especially for imported cargoes, are unlikely to remain high over the near term, mainly due to a slowdown in the pace of procurement among Chinese steelmakers and the fact that domestic market supplies of iron ore are on the rise, according to the China Iron & Steel Association’s latest monthly report on the iron ore market released on May 16.
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Coke stocks at the 230 Chinese independent coke plants monitored weekly by Mysteel dipped by another 51,400 tonnes or 4.7% on week as of May 16 to reach 1.05 million tonnes, a three-month low, despite the fact that the merchant coke producers’ output edged up by 6,100 tonnes/day on week to 694,400 tonnes/day, according to Mysteel’s survey published on May 17.
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Brazilian iron ore miner Vale has warned of possible safety issues relating to its Gongo Soco iron ore mine in Barão de Cocais, Minas Geraus, Southeast Brazil, according to a statement it issued on May 16 local time.
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The capacity utilization rate at 247 blast-furnace steel companies across China persisted at a rather high level of 83.69% as of May 16, or up 0.26 percentage point despite the ongoing restriction of operations among the steel mills in Tangshan, North China’s Hebei province, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released on May 17.
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Imported iron ore inventories at China’s 45 major ports declined further, hitting its 19-month low of 132 million tonnes as of May 16, according to Mysteel’s latest release on May 17.
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Steel mills in North China’s Shanxi province have felt keenly the constraint in local iron ore concentrates supplies when they have been consuming more domestic supplies for the cost effectiveness, market source said on Thursdays.
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China’s national average benchmark price for HRB400 20mm dia rebar rebounded by Yuan 10/tonne ($1.5/t) on day to Yuan 4,176/t on delivery and including the 13% VAT as of May 16 after having declined for six working days.
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Major coke producers in China hold a bullish view on the country’s merchant coke market for the immediate future at least, with several starting to raise their coke offer prices by another Yuan 50/t ($7.3/t) this week, thanks to sustained robust demand from steel mills, according to market sources.
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Chinese prices of imported iron ore rose further on May 16, with Mysteel’s price index for 62% seaborne iron ore fines approaching its highest level since July 2014 at $97.95/dmt CFR Qingdao, surging by another $3.36/dmt on day. At the same time, the 62% portside iron ore fines price index also rebounded by a huge Yuan 15/wmt ($2.2/wmt) on day to reach Yuan 705/wmt FOT Qingdao and including 13% VAT to near a 27-month high.
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Tangshan, the steelmaking hub in North China’s Hebei province, will continue trimming iron and steel capacity to reach around 100 million tonnes/year by 2020 and reduce the number of local steel mills to less than 30 at the same time, according to a work plan made by Tangshan’s government authorities and posted on its website on May 14. The purpose is to improve the city’s perennially poor air quality, Mysteel understands.
