Published by:Alice Li<>
9 May 2025 @ 12:15 UTC

Seaborne iron ore prices stayed largely stable on Friday May 9 after the sharp decline the previous day amid a lack of confidence for a strong pickup in steel demand and prices in the coming months, trade sources told Fastmarkets. Key drivers The price of the most-traded September iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) fluctuated over the day and closed at 696 yuan ($96) per tonne on Friday, little change from the previous closing price of 693.50 yuan per tonne.
By 5:58pm, the most-traded June contract on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) was $97.25 per tonne, up by $0.73 per tonne compared with the previous settlement price of $96.52 per tonne.
Sentiment in the iron ore and steel industry was still being damped by the weak downstream steel consumption data and low expectations, capping iron ore price movements in both derivatives and the physical market, trade sources said.
Prices in the iron ore derivatives market on the SGX and DCE fluctuated within a small range and struggled to make a slight day-on-day increase on Friday, after the drop a day earlier, a Shanghai-based trader said.
The same source added that the latest steel inventory and apparent demand data on Thursday, compiled by a third local information provider, failed to meet previous market expectation, leading to an overall price weakness for steel and steelmaking raw materials.
Buying interest for cost-effective iron ore cargoes in the secondary market increased, despite the volumes of higher-premium products traded in the primary market this week.
A cargo of 145,000 tonnes of Pilbara Blend fines, co-loaded with 90,000 tonnes of Pilbara Blend lumps, was traded at the June average of a 62% Fe iron ore fines index with a premium of $0.35 per tonne, plus miner’s direct discount for the large volume of the vessel, trade sources told Fastmarkets on Friday.
Traded prices for high-grade Brazilian fines in the secondary market declined further, with a wider discount due to continuous negative arbitrage margins between seaborne and Chinese portside prices.
A Zhejiang-based trader bought a cargo of 180,000 tonnes of 64.69% Fe Iron Ore Carajas fines at the July average of a 65% Fe iron ore fines index with a discount of $1 per tonne on May 7, and resold to another trader with a discount of $0.50 per tonne on May 8, with bill of lading dated April 26, several sector sources told Fastmarkets on Friday.
Relatively sufficient supply and limited demand for Iron Ore Carajas fines at China’s portside market have made their prices much lower than seaborne prices, leading to negative reselling margins, a Hebei-based mill said.
A Beijing-based trader said that demand and discounts for high-grade imported pellet feed with lower silica were resilient, while a few traders might reduce offers for high-silica pellet feed to conclude deals.
The offer for 65% Fe Ukraine pellet feed remained at the June average of a 65% Fe iron ore fines index with a discount of $4.50 per tonne, yet no bids were received, a Singapore-based trader told Fastmarkets.
The volume of available imported high-grade pellet feed from Chile and Australia has been limited in recent weeks.
The lower price in China’s market is one of the reasons that a few overseas miners are unwilling to ship more cargoes, a second Shanghai-based trader said, and currently we don’t have available pellet feed to offer.
The number of mainstream iron ore fines products in China’s portside market declined on Friday compared with the previous day, amid mills’ necessary procurement demand.
Fastmarkets’ iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao:$98.17 per tonne, up by $0.35 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao:$97.31 per tonne, up by $0.35 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:$85.66 per tonne, up by $0.19 per tonne 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao:$109.72 per tonne, up by $0.34 per tonne 62.5% Fe Australia-origin lump ore premium, cfr Qingdao:$0.1550 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu), unchanged 62% Fe fines, fot Qingdao:774 yuan per wet metric tonne (implied 62% Fe China Port Price:$98.66 per dry tonne), down by 3 yuan per wmt 67.5% Fe pellet feed premium, cfr Qingdao:$0.80 per tonne, unchanged 67.5% Fe pellet feed, cfr Qingdao:$114.07 per tonne, up by $0.43 per tonne 65% Fe concentrate premium, cfr Qingdao:$(5.20) per tonne, unchanged 65% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao:$103.24 per tonne, up by $0.43 per tonne.
Trades/offers/bids heard in the market Vale, tender, 70,000 tonnes of 53.76% Fe Lump Ore Non-Screened Guaiba, bill of lading dated May 6.
Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center, 190,000 tonnes of 58% Fe MB fines, traded at the June average of a 62% Fe iron ore fines index with a discount of 11.6% per tonne, laycan May 25-June 3.
Spot market 70,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Karara pellet feed, traded at the July average of a 62% Fe index with a discount of $1.90 per tonne, mid-June loading.
Market participants’ indications Fastmarkets’ index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, CFR Qingdao Pilbara Blend fines: $97.20-98.46 per tonne Brazilian Blend fines: $96.50-98.15 per tonne Newman fines: $94.46-95.06 per tonne Mac fines: $94.56-95.06 per tonne Jimblebar fines: $90.46-91.16 per tonne.
Fastmarkets’ index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, CFR Qingdao Iron Ore Carajas: $107.40-110.90 per tonne.
Fastmarkets’ index for iron ore 67.5% Fe pellet feed premium, CFR Qingdao Minas Rio BFPF Pellet Feed: $(3.00)-(5.00) per tonne Atacama CNN Pellet Feed: $(2.00)-(3.00) per tonne Shougang Hierro Peru 70: $0.25-0.60 per tonne Kaunis Pellet Feed: $0.00-1.00 per tonne Metinvest 68% Pellet Feed: $(3.00)-(4.00) per tonne.
Fastmarkets’ index for iron ore 65% Fe concentrate premium, CFR Qingdao Citic Pacific Concentrate: $(4.50) per tonne Karara Concentrate: $(6.89) per tonne Metinvest SevGok Concentrate: $(4.20)-(5.50) per tonne.
Port prices Pilbara Blend fines were traded at 753-775 yuan per wmt in Shandong province and the ports of Tangshan and in Tianjin on Friday, compared with 752-767 yuan per wmt on Thursday.
The latest range was equivalent to about $96-99 per tonne in the seaborne market.
Dalian Commodity Exchange The most-traded September iron ore futures contract on the exchange closed at 696 yuan ($96) per tonne on Friday, up by 2.50 yuan per tonne from the previous closing price.