Daily iron ore price update (India support?)

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Find below the iron ore price table for July 30, 2013:

livyv

Rebar futures were flat.

News today is all about India where some support for future prices may be found. From WSJ:

India, a leading iron-ore exporter just a few years ago, will see its imports of the key raw material jump as much as eightfold during the current financial year due to domestic mining restrictions, the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries said Tuesday.

India’s imports of iron ore, a key ingredient in steel, are likely to reach 20 million-24 million metric tons this year, up from around 3 million tons during the year that ended March 31, FIMI said.

…India’s iron-ore exports are likely to fall to around 10 million tons this year from 18.37 million tons in the previous financial year, FIMI Secretary-General R.K Sharma said.

He said iron-ore production is likely to fall to around a 100 million tons from 115 million tons in 2012-13.

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I still think that eventually India will sort this out and return as an exporter but for now it’s a point of good news for miners. Remember how fortunate we’ve been here. Had it not been for this unexpected move by India iron ore would have been $20 lower all year.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.