India Steel Market Watch
November 26: Spot iron ore offers continued to ease as a struggling Chinese steel market dimmed the demand outlook for the raw material, industry sources told ISMW.
Spot iron ore dropped to less than $44 a ton. Sources said iron ore has been oversold and the outlook for next year remains negative due to weak fundamentals.
Iron ore for immediate delivery to China's Tianjin Port stood at $43 to 44 a ton.
Snow in northern China is causing problems transporting iron ore from port to mill, causing some to stop purchasing and others to shut down their furnaces, sources said.
Many Chinese steel mills have either curbed or halted output as demand continued to shrink this year after falling in 2014 for the first time in more than three decades.
Moody's Investors Service said its negative outlook for Asian steel companies reflects its expectation that profitability will continue to decline, as oversupply and weakening Chinese demand will further pull prices lower.
"Slow property investment, modest infrastructure spending and lacklustre manufacturing will reduce Chinese steel demand by about 5 percent in 2016," Jiming Zou, Moody's Vice-President and Senior Analyst, said in a statement.
Rebar, a construction steel product, ended 0.8 percent higher at 1,676 yuan a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, after peaking at 1,729 yuan. The most-traded contract touched a record low of 1,649 yuan on Monday.
Following are prevailing international prices:
Grade % Fe |
Origin |
Product |
load port |
destination |
Nov 26, 2015: cfr ($/ton) |
Nov 25, 2015: cfr ($/ton) |
Nov 24, 2015: cfr ($/ton) |
63.5/63 |
India |
Fines |
Vizag |
Qingdao |
44 |
44 |
44 |
62 |
India |
Fines |
FOB Vizag |
|
12 |
12 |
12 |
62 |
Australia |
PB |
Dampier |
Tianjin |
44 |
44 |
44 |
63.5 |
Brazil |
Fines |
Brazil |
China |
46 |
46 |
46 |
Source: Traders