Iron ore prices rise, but market participants stay on sidelines

Seaborne iron ore prices continued to increase and futures maintaining their recent uptrend on Monday December 20, but spot trading was limited by wait-and-see sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets iron ore indices
62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $123.51 per tonne, up $3.91 per tonne
62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $124.02 per tonne, up $3.59 per tonne
58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $97.03 per tonne, up $4.41 per tonne
65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao: $141.80 per tonne, up $5.10 per tonne
63% Fe Australia-origin lump ore premium, cfr Qingdao: $0.1400 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu), unchanged
62% Fe fines, fot Qingdao: 794 yuan per wet metric tonne (implied 62% Fe China Port Price: $114.84 per dry tonne), up by 35 yuan per wmt