Strong demand sustaining iron ore prices despite Vale's restart of Itabira ops

Strong demand for seaborne iron ore and uncertainties over Brazilian supply of the steelmaking raw material continue to prop up spot prices despite Vale’s resumption of operations at its Itabira mining complex.

“Even though the Itabira complex is good to resume, market participants still don’t expect Vale to hit its target of 310 million tonnes this year, and low iron ore inventories at Chinese ports are supporting prices as well,” a trading source in Shanghai said.
Vale said on Thursday June 18 that the suspension of the Itabira complex had affected less than 1 million tonnes of its production and that its guidance for this year remained unchanged, at 310-330 million tonnes.