Iron Ore Prices May Move Rangebound This Week

SHANGHAI, Apr 11 (SMM) - The demand for building steel products weakened due to the adverse weather last week. Although the inventory of building steel products continued to decline, the destocking rate slowed down. Stronger inventory pressure on steel mills also dampened their purchases of iron ore. Combined with supervision by Chinese authorities, DCE iron ore prices remained weak. Nonetheless, the high output of pig iron lowered the inventory of iron ore at ports sharply, providing strong support for spot prices. The spot prices of PB fines in Shandong were stable last week. The recent seasonal disturbances have weakened, and global shipments have remained high. Shipments arrivals are expected to increase this week. On the demand side, the output of pig iron still has room to increase due to the resumption of blast furnaces. Iron ore fundamentals are still stable. The improving weather may lead to an increase in the demand for building materials. The apparent demand recovery will support imported ore prices. However, regulations by Chinese authorities and rumours of crude steel production reduction will continue to have a major impact on the prices. It is expected that prices of imported iron ore will move rangebound this week.