2015年1月21日普氏能源日报

COVERING THE RAW MATERIALS INPUTS TO STEELMAKING

Volume 9 / Issue 14 / January 21, 2015

/PlattsSBBSteel

Close/Midpoint

Change % Chg IODEX Iron ore fines 62% Fe ($/dmt)CFR North China

65.50-66.50

66.00

-1.25

-1.86

Please see Platts complete iron price/netbacks table, p.3

Coking coal, premium low vol ($/mt)FOB Australia 105.90 105.90 -0.45 -0.42CFR China

114.00 114.00 -0.50 -0.44

Please see full metallurgical coal price/freight table, p.4Ferrous scrap

HMS CFR Turkey, $/mt 308.00-310.00 309.00 -1.00 -0.32HMS FOB Rotterdam, $/mt 284.00-288.00 286.00 -1.00 -0.35A3, FOB Black Sea, $/mt

284.00-289.00 286.50 -1.00 -0.35Shredded del Midwest US, $/lt 338.00-342.00 340.00 0.00 0.00Shredded FOB East Coast, $/mt 290.00-295.00 292.50 -5.00 -1.68HMS del dock East Coast, $/lt 250.00-255.00 252.50 0.00 0.00HMS FAS US West Coast, $/mt

230.00-235.00

232.50

-5.00

-2.11

Singapore —Spot iron ore prices declined again Wednesday, as Chinese mills shunned a variety of offers. Platts 62% Fe IODEX fell $1.25/dry mt to $66/dmt CFR North China.

A number of offers were met with silence, or bids deemed too low to meet. “Yesterday and today, all buyers aren’t very anxious about committing to spot cargoes now,” a Hong Kong-based trader said. “We’re trying to sell our cargoes but it’s not that easy to. A lot of mills are not eager to buy more iron ore as their profit margins are being threatened because steel hasn’t been doing well. The seasonal factor is huge.”

The cold weather in China impedes pro-ductivity in the construction and infrastructure sectors, both major consumers of steel.

Mills spurn iron ore offers and prices fall

A procurement source at a Hebei-based mill said some steelmakers were going to start cutting crude steel production by bring-ing forward maintenance at their blast fur-naces. “Steel margins are so weak now in any case, so mills are thinking they might as well let this coincide with their mainte-nance periods. We are hearing of this going on in the Tangshan region [in Hebei], as well as in Shandong.”

This would further constrain ore demand, the source said.

Vale tender IOCJ fines

Meanwhile, Brazilian miner Vale sold at $75.11/dmt 64.96% Fe Iron Ore Carajas

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fines through a spot tender Wednesday, sources invited to participate in the tender said. The 108,357-mt shipment will pass Singapore February 5, and contains 1.52% alumina, 2.81% silica, 0.038% phospho-rus, 0.37% manganese, 2% loss on igni-tion and 8.3% moisture.

The IOCJ fines trade normalized to $75.09/dmt CFR North China against the Platts 65% Fe specifications. The 65% Fe assessment fell $2/dmt on the day to $75/dmt CFR North China, dropping more than the lower grades.

This 108,357 mt shipment was part of an original 195,461 mt shipment of IOCJ fines the miner eventually split into two to offer separately after failing to find bids it considered high enough on January 12. Vale subsequently sold 87,104 mt on January 16 at $78.15/dmt CFR China through a spot tender to Chinese trading house SPL, sources said.

Meanwhile, rebar futures edged lower Wednesday, with the most liquid May contract in Shanghai last trading at Yuan 2,472/mt ($403.50/mt), down Yuan 16/mt from Tuesday, and settling at Yuan 2,493/mt, down Yuan 9/mt day on day. The spot price of square billet in Tangshan remained unchanged at Yuan 2,000/mt ($326.50/mt) ex-stock Tangshan.

Iron ore futures on the Dalian

Commodity Exchange fell Wednesday, with the most actively traded May contract in Dalian last trading at Yuan 486/dmt

Mills spurn iron ore offers and prices fall ... from page 1