by Chris Becker
Please find below the spot and 12 month swap prices for iron ore and charts:
From Reuters comes a report that China’s imports for iron ore in May fell 7% month-on-month, despite a 13% drop in price and may reduce further in months ahead:
“Supply is still more than demand, but we have probably seen the peak in supply for now and that’s helping stabilise the market a bit,” said a Shanghai-based iron ore trader. Imports may continue to decline on a month on month basis due to high inventory of iron ore at Chinese ports and among mills, a crackdown on iron ore financing in China and as mills run down stockpiles ahead of the slow summer season, said Helen Lau, a senior mining analyst at UOB-Kay Hian Securities in Hong Kong.
“This will put more downward pressure on the over supplied seaborne market. We stay bearish on iron ore and steel prices,” Lau said in a note on Monday.
Stocks of imported iron ore at 44 Chinese ports stood at 113.2 million tonnes as of June 6 , down slightly from a record high of 113.6 million tonnes in the previous week, according to industry consultancy Steelhome.
Chinese steel mills are cutting back on long-term iron ore contracts in favour of cheaper spot cargoes on expectations that spot prices are unlikely to rebound strongly anytime soon.