Iron ore chart for May 13, 2016:
Tianjin benchmark was hit hard -1.7% to $53.50. Paper slumped though Dalian recovered 2% overnight. Rebar average keeps falling and appears to have further to retrace. Port stocks gave back 950k tonnes on last week’s big rise which may support the market a little. Steel mill profitability is still very high.
“Most of the Chinese mills like us are prepared for the price drop, as the price had surged to such a high level that it seemed too good to be true, so decline will be unavailable and it is only when,” a procurement official from a Hebei-based privately-owned steel mill said.
