According to Ministry of Commerce, domestic spot ore price has slipped to CNY 1490 per tonne in the week ended August 17th down by 4.5% from the week before. Poor trade in the market is set to drag down the price further in days to come.

Tangshan, Hebei, the major ore producing region in China has witnessed price decline of CNY 70 per tonne within the week. Meanwhile, Fe 63.5% Indian spot ore price eases to CNY 1350 per tonne to CNY 1370 per tonne WoW decrease of CNY 80 per tonne.

The decrease is mainly due to sluggish steel market. Rising steel inventory has undermined iron ore demand, leading to price slide in the iron ore market. Chinas pig iron and crude steel output amounts to 41.98 million tonnes and 44.89 million tonnes respectively in July.

According to survey from Mysteel, imported iron ore piling up at major seaports has climbed 73.42 million tonnes on August 17th up by 380,000 tonnes from the previous week, as a result of production cutback from steel mills.

Market analysts expect that there is scope for further price decline since steelmakers have slashed their purchase price for ore concentrate. As a result, some traders are eager to strike deals on pessimistic outlook.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)