Prices of imported iron ore fluctuated within narrow range, likely to increase slightly last week

SHANGHAI, Jun 15 (SMM) — Iron ore prices stood low early last week as the demand of finished products declined, and rose later amid recovered finished product market. Prices of mainstream spot fines at ports were up 13-20 yuan/mt in Shandong. Prices of imported ore is likely to increase 10-20 yuan/mt last week, as some steel mills had restocking demand before the Dragon Boat Festival, and the demand for finished products is expected to decline. Export volume from Australia and Brazil increased month on month in the week from May 30 to June 5, with the volume from Brazil up 12% to 7.1 million mt. However, based on the export volume in the previous week, the arrivals at ports may not increase significantly. In addition, the inventory of imported ore at ports continued to decline. Driven by the recovery of finished product prices, the profits of steel mills were still relatively high, so the demand for mainstream fines were unlikely to decline significantly. Operating rates of blast furnaces increased by 1.2 percentage points to 87.2% from the previous week. Although the profits of steel mills fluctuated, they were not willing to conduct maintenance overhaul, which still supported the demand of iron ore. However, in the short term, whether the recovery of the finished products market will continue remains as market focus.