Find below the iron ore price table for March 14, 2013:
What can I tell you? The prices for swap and rebar are still well below iron ore spot on any long term comparison. There is no reason any longer for the bloated spreads. China is not going to rebuild its broader stockpile. Demand is going to be mediocre all year as Chinese realty is squashed. There is still the absence of Indian supply but it’s clearly not enough to hold up the overall market so there’s no reason for the spreads either.
Therefore, although I expect before long we’ll see some order return to swaps and steel pricing, spot may well keep correcting into the $120s.
One final point. What kind of crazed nation doesn’t apply a rent tax and an SWF to soak up this kind of volatility in its key export price? Hmm?
