Commodities

Fortescue has released its Q3 production report: Quarterly shipments of 25.9 million tonnes (mt), a four per cent increase from previous quarter and a 61 per cent increase on the previous corresponding period.

From the SMH: The iron ore miners have been having a bumper month so far, with some stocks soaring close to their year-highs since a steady rally from June and July.

Before long I’ll be the only bear left standing.

Find below the iron ore price table for October 17, 2013: Spot looks stuck.

No prices this morning from Bloomie for either spot or swaps.

Rio’s Q3 production report is out and the dirt deluge builds: Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh said “We achieved strong production results in the third quarter, with copper volumes up as Oyu Tolgoi ramps up to full capacity and Kennecott continues to recover ahead of expectations.

Don’t look now but rebar is recovering.

Find below the iron ore price table for October 11, 2013: In news today, Reuters offers a snapshot of market internals: “Most of the buyers are looking for prompt cargo and we are seeing a lot of people inquiring,” said a trader in Shanghai who sells Indian iron ore.

Find below the iron ore price table for October 10,2013: So, firming up again.

Cross-posted from The Conversation New environment minister Greg Hunt recently announced 50 large coal and coal seam gas developments to be pushed through Australia’s environmental approval process, including assessment under the new federal “water trigger” introduced in early 2013.

One of the more noted iron ore bears in investment bank land, Credit Suisse, has upgraded its price forecasts.

Find below the iron or price chart for October 8, 1013: It would interesting to do a study of markets returning from holiday to see if there is any pattern.

Cross-posted from The Conversation With the hype surrounding the US gas-boom, it’s something of a worrying and cautionary note to read in the Financial Times outgoing Shell CEO Peter Voser quoted as saying his “huge bet on US shale was a big regret of his time as chief executive of the company”.

For those that don’t know, Mac Bank conducts a quite useful survey of sentiment in Chinese steel mills.

That is the question! Morgan Stanley addresses it today: Consensus price forecasts are overly bearish. The average price of US$136/t (62% Fe, CFR North China) in the iron ore spot index between 1Q-3Q 2013 surpassed even the most bullish of analysts’ forecasts.

On Friday 4th of October the 12 month swap fell another .19 cents to $110.75.

Another small fall in 12 month swaps yesterday of .12 cents bringing the price down to $110.94.

With Chinese markets still closed we’re relying exclusively upon Singapore futures.

Find below the iron ore price chart for October 1st, 2013: Chinese markets were closed yesterday but Singapore-based swaps did not like what they saw in the PMIs: The 12 month swap has now broken below its July low and looks headed lower.

From Reuters: China’s CITIC Pacific said it was moving into the initial production phase at its $8 billion iron ore project in Australia, following years of delays at one of China’s costliest offshore mining developments.