This report is part of the S&P Global Platts Metals Trade Review series, where we dig through datasets and digest some of the key trends in iron ore, alumina, steel and scrap, and metallurgical coal. We also explore what the next few months could bring, from supply and demand shifts, to new arbitrages, and to quality spread fluctuations.
Buoyed by the rise in steel mill margins and the recovery in Chinese steel production from December 2021, Asian iron ore prices leapt 36.5% from its Q4 trough to end the year at $119/dmt.