By Alex Theo – Thursday 21 October
Supplies of a key mid-grade iron ore fines could be limited through the October-December quarter amid quality issues and the possible diversion of material to be blended with lower-grade iron ore products, market sources said.
Sources told Fastmarkets there had been quality issues with the mid-grade iron ore fines, due to higher impurity levels after a key miner had likely hit a silica-rich vein.
“The higher impurity levels in recently mined mid-grade fine mean [a larger proportion than usual is likely to be] diverted to blending facilities where lower-grade products are produced,” a Xiamen-based analyst said.
Some traders said they had noticed that fewer spot cargoes of the mid-grade iron ore fines have been offered to the market over September to October, with fewer transactions completed compared with the same period in 2020.
Fastmarkets’ data corroborates this, with nine transactions recorded in the spot market for the mid-grade iron ore fines through September and in October so far this year, compared with 33 transactions over the same period last year.
Fastmarkets’ index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao was $124.07 per tonne on Wednesday October 21, up $0.03 per tonne from $124.04 per tonne on Tuesday.
(MetalBulletin, 21 Oct, 2021)
