Platts assessed the 62% Fe Iron Ore Index at $108.40/dry mt CFR North China on May 16, unchanged on the day.
Seaborne market demand fundamentals have shown slight improvements although a big impact on prices remains to be seen.
“Seaborne demand is improving albeit slowly, the bottom line is that mills are making money,” said an iron ore trader.
Import margins are diminishing but mills are making money so margins would come back, the trader said.
The buying activities were calm during the day as the China property market data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was lower than market expectations.
The improvement of steel production margin and the low coke prices are the main factors that gave support to lump premium prices, according to market sources. Meanwhile, the demand for lump in some Chinese steel mills was heard to have improved.
Platts assessed the spot lump premium at 15.7 cents/dmtu on May 16, up 1.55 cents/dmtu from May 15.
Disclaimer: this article is from the SBB STEEL MARKET DAILY, the copyright belongs to the original author, and only represents the original author's viewpoint.
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