Iron ore prices have fallen to the $100/mt CFR mark, the lowest level seen since early April, and the bearish outlook has persisted with the majority of market sources not excluding that prices will drop even further in the short term amid a lack of supportive news in the market.
Ex-Australia iron ore fines with 62 percent Fe content have posted a $2.9/mt drop on July 23 to $100.1/mt CFR. Brazilian iron ore with 65 percent Fe content has decreased by $3/mt from the previous day to $116.5/mt CFR.
Today, 23 deals for a total of 418,500 mt of iron ore have been done on July 23, including 170,000 mt of 61 percent PB fines traded at $99.45/mt CFR, for shipment during August 29-September 7, Also, 5,000 mt of 63.29 percent fines were sold at RMB 805/mt ($113/mt), delivered at port. Demand has been steady after prices declined but is not so active as buyers still believe that prices have room to fall further.
“We were hoping for better signals from the government, but no,” a trader said. Even a cut in the five-year loan prime rate (LPR) and the one-year LPR by 10 basis points, announced yesterday, has failed to support the market, at least for now. The last time cuts were done in these benchmark rates was in August last year.