14 Business Days before the JV Partner is announced!
Not long now fellas, just as the Chinese start restocking their iron ore supplies!
Cheers Nectar
GO SDL!
Iron ore rises as Chinese mills restock
Published 2:40 PM, 8 Jun 2011
QUICK SUMMARY | FULL STORY
Reuters
SINGAPORE - Spot iron ore prices rose, as Chinese steelmakers replenished inventories that have run low after a record pace of steel production until mid-May.
A drop in spot prices to two-month lows last week encouraged mills in China, the world's top iron ore consumer, to restock.
"We expect the restocking to continue for the next two weeks. Iron ore prices are low, inventories are low and steel prices are good," an iron ore trader in Rizhao city in China's Shandong province said.
Indian ore with 63.5 per cent iron content was quoted at $US179-$US181 a tonne, including freight, up from $US175-$US178 yesterday, traders said, and market indications are for prices to be firm to stable in the next few weeks.
Global miner BHP Billiton sold 80,000 tonnes of 61.2 per cent-grade iron ore fines at $US171 a tonne and another 90,000 tonnes of 57.7 per cent grade at $US158 a tonne at a tender on Tuesday, traders said.
The price for the higher-grade fines was in line with spot market rates, while the lower-grade ore was $US3-$US5 higher than readily available stocks at Chinese ports, traders said.
"I think the Chinese will not be restocking too much iron ore because of the power shortages which may hit steel production and the tighter monetary policy," a trader in Shenzhen said.
"Also, steel demand usually slows during the summer when construction mostly stops because it becomes too hot to build anything."
China is struggling with its worst power shortages in seven years and has raised electricity prices for some users for the first time since 2009.
China's daily crude steel output in the last 11 days of May stood at 1.915 million tonnes, down 3.5 per cent compared with the previous 10 days when daily production rose to a record of 1.984 million tonnes as mills maximised output ahead of a widely anticipated power rationing campaign.
Iron ore indexes, based on Chinese spot prices and which global miners use in setting quarterly contracts, rose yesterday after losing around six per cent last month.
Platts 62 per cent benchmark rose $US1.00 to $US172.75 a tonne and a similar index by Metal Bulletin gained 88 cents to $US171.18.
The Steel Index's 62 per cent gauge edged up 50 cents to $US170.70.
"Despite the fact that prices have been coming down for a while now, we shouldn't forget that prices are still high; the spot price has not been below $US160 per tonne for more than six months and it is unlikely to do so in the short-to-medium term at least," said Christopher Ellis, Metal Bulletin index analyst Christopher Ellis said, in London.
Forward swaps extended gains, suggesting investors are looking to more gains in spot prices.
The Singapore Exchange-cleared June contract rose 75 cents to $US173.75 a tonne, July gained $US1.95 to $US173.12 and August climbed $US1.87 to $US171.87.
