Here is the iron ore price chart for February 6, 2013:
And the chart:
Yesterday’s rebar futures market was soft:
Yet that still couldn’t stop spot ore. Nor could the big fall in Port Hedland shipments for January:
Data…phewy. The spot market wants a new high!
No fresh news overnight but I did miss this earlier in the week, from Reuters:
Australia’s Aquila Resources
Ltd has put a A$7.4 billion ($7.7 billion) iron ore project on ice at least through June due to funding difficulties, as soaring costs and volatile commodity prices take a toll on new mine developments.
The West Pilbara Iron Ore project in Western Australia is one of a number that have stalled since the mining boom cooled last year in the world’s top iron ore exporter after Chinese demand slowed.
Aquila’s project required billions to be spent on rail and port access, stretching funding prospects when benchmark ore prices hit three-year lows last year, although prices have since partially rebounded.
…Aquila and its partners American Metals and Coal International (AMCI), a mining investment firm, and South Korean steel giant POSCO effectively froze the project last September, as they failed to agree on a budget for the year to June 2013.
The dispute went to arbitration, and the process had been due to begin on Feb. 18, but Aquila said on Monday it had bowed to its partners and would continue the project suspension for the rest of this financial year.
Why would a consortium including a major steel-maker freeze the project with ore prices where they are? The iron ore supply pipeline is chock full already and metrics for investment no longer make sense.
