Domestic Iron Ore Prices Fall Last Week and to Fluctuate with Occasional Drops this Week

SHANGHAI, Apr 17 (SMM) -  Iron ore price changes across China last week are as follows. Tangshan city, Hebei province: down 10-15 yuan/mt in Qian'an city and Qianxi county; West Liaoning: down 10-20 yuan/mt in Chaoyang city, Beipiao city, and Jianping county; East China: down 20-30 yuan/mt.

In Tangshan, the steel mills lowered the bid prices of concentrates amid the falling futures prices. Some leading companies reduced the purchases on losses. Some mines and dressing plants shipped their spots to guarantee their capital flow, but most companies held a wait-and-see attitude and refused to ship at lows. The supply tightness in Tangshan provided certain support for the iron ore prices. Steel mills that gained thin profits lowered the purchase prices. It is expected that the iron ore concentrate prices in Tangshan will run with occasional drops in the short term.

Market trading in west Liaoning was slack. The local steel mills suffered losses amid dropping steel prices, and they restocked concentrates on demand. The leading steel mills constantly lowered their purchase prices of iron ore concentrates, which were unacceptable for local mines and dressing plants that had no inventory pressure. However, the rising iron ore futures prices prevented the steel mills from pushing down the prices further, so the iron ore prices in west Liaoning will be stable with some drops.

In east China, large mines were in normal production. Mines in Zibo city (Shandong) finished their overhaul, and local steel mills maintained high operating rates. Mines delivered spot concentrates under long-term contracts to steel mills. The imported ore prices dropped WoW last week. Therefore the local iron ore prices may fall this week.

Looking at this week, mines and dressing plants expect the consumption to grow, and the low supply will support the iron ore prices to a certain extent. However, since the steel mills will continue to cut the purchase prices of iron ore amid the dropping steel prices, it is expected that the iron ore prices will run with some drops this week.