SteelMint: India iron ore fines export index edges up tracking global price uptick

SteelMint's weekly index for India's low-grade iron ore fines (Fe 57%) exports stood at $54/t FOB east coast, increasing marginally by $3/t w-o-w. Prices have risen on the back of higher global prices and drop in vessel freight rates by $4-5/DMT this week.

Price indicators:

• One deal was reported this week so far but not taken into price calculation as it was not confirmed either by the buyer or seller and hence given 0% weightage under T1 trade. Click here for methodology.
  
  
• SteelMint received ten (10) indicative prices, bids and offers in the current publishing window and eight (08) considered for price calculation as T2 inputs and given 100% weightage.
  
  

Market highlights -

• Spot prices inches up w-o-w: The spot price of benchmark iron ore (Fe 62%) fines increased w-o-w to $160.2/t CFR China on 6 April, 2022 as against $158.2/t a week ago. Production restarts led Chinese buyers returning to the seaborne market, according to sources.
  
  
• DCE iron ore futures decrease d-o-d: DCE iron ore futures' September contract closed at RMB 900/t ($141/t) on 7 April, 2022, down RMB 26.5/t ($4/t) compared with the previous day. However, on a weekly basis, prices inched up by around RMB 3/t ($0.47/t).
  
  
• Port inventories in China inch down: Iron ore inventory at major Chinese ports inched down to 155.6 mnt on 31 March, 2022 compared to 156 mnt last week, as per SteelHome data.