SHANGHAI, May 9 (SMM) – Spot iron ore trading in China picked up as sentiment improved on Tuesday May 8 and as iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose and closed higher at 476 yuan/mt.

In Tangshan, Pilbara Blend fines traded at 475 yuan/mt, 2-3 yuan/mt higher from Monday. In Shandong, transactions were flat at 470 yuan/mt.

However, some traders took a bearish outlook on the iron ore market in the near term due to pressure from the supply side.

Port prices were down slightly on Tuesday.

SMM's MMi Iron Ore Port Index stood at 474 yuan/wmt fot Qingdao on Tuesday for 62% Fe fines, down 4 yuan/wmt from Monday May 7.  

The index for 58% Fe fines inched down 1 yuan/wmt to 332 yuan/wmt while the index for 65% Fe fines was down 3 yuan/wmt to 569 yuan/wmt.

SMM and its new price index business Metals Market Index (MMi) launched the iron ore port indices on May 2 as port prices continued to gain importance in pricing the steelmaking raw material.  

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