UNITED KINGDOM January 17 2017 3:06 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): Iron ore prices firmed in December on restocking activity and firmer steel prices, said the Steel Index.

The TSI 62% Fe iron ore benchmark averaged 10.37% higher last month compared with November. Prices hovered around the US$80/tonne mark for much of the month, closing the year a full 85% higher than they ended 2015.

Chinese trade data showed a huge leap in iron ore imports in November, with gains of 14% over October levels. This put China’s imports on track for 1 billion tonnes in 2016. Meanwhile, record volumes of iron ore were shipped out of Australia’s Port Hedland to China in over the year.

Steel prices rallied in China early in December as the government cracked down on illegal furnaces, but ebbed towards year-end on weak demand and a contraction in the availability of credit. However, PMI data showed an improvement in China’s manufacturing sector as both official and official figures pointed to expansion.

A relatively subdued end to the year for iron ore derivatives, as the volume of swaps, options and futures cleared by Singapore Exchange (SGX) and CME Group came in just over 110 million tonnes.