Iron ore price charts for December 9, 2019: Everything went off to the races after a good US jobs report. It’s not clear why. There are tarrifs in place. In truth, this is still pretty typical seasonal action as mills restock, aided at the margin by the Vale Brucutu news. It’ss flame out when ready.

Iroin ore charts for December 6, 2019: Spot up. Paper up more after US jobs. Steel has recovered some. The great untold story of this year’s iron ore boom continues with the release of Chinese import data over the weekend. Iron ore imports at 90.65mt, still down on a rolling annual basis: Reuters notes: The

Iron ore price charts for December 5, 2019: Spot down. Paper down more. No change. Firm pricing for a few months on the year end restock.

Iron ore price charts for December 4, 2019: Spot up. Paper down as the contact rolled forward. Steel down. No change. Firm pricing through to Q2, 2020. A little enhanced now by Vale’s problems.

Texture from Reuters: “As (China’s) winter production control is less severe than last year and steel demand remains solid due to government’s support policies, we expect the steel prices to rise further, underpinning further recovery in iron ore and coking coal prices,” said Helen Lau, metals and mining analyst at Argonaut Securities. Meh. This is

Via the FT comes the Australian doomsday clock via Simandou: Fadi Wazni, the chairman of SMB-Winning, the consortium, said it was already “advancing” discussions with partners interested in backing its ambitious plan to build a 110m-tonne-a-year iron ore mine in the west African country at an estimated cost of $15bn. These include China Railway Construction

Texture via Reuters: China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released on Saturday pointed to an unexpected improvement in its manufacturing sector in November, as demand picked up on Beijing’s stimulus measures. Another private business survey released on Monday also showed total new orders and factory production remained at buoyant levels last month, expanding at the

Iron ore charts for November 29, 2019: Spot fell. Paper fell more. CISA output remains strong. Not much to report and no chnge to outlook.

The yawn goes on: China PMIs tomorrow. Perhaps that will add some life.

Via World Steel: World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 151.5 million tonnes (Mt) in October 2019, a 2.8% decrease compared to October 2018. China’s crude steel production for October 2019 was 81.5 Mt, a decrease of 0.6% compared to October 2018. India produced 9.1 Mt

Texture from Platts: An iron ore trader in China’s Shandong province expects steel mill margins to increase further before the country’s Lunar New Year holiday which starts on January 25. Restocking of iron ore before the coldest winter months and ahead of the Lunar New Year usually supports iron ore prices, he said. But steelmakers

There’s always someone paid to say something stupid, via Platts: Output from Guinea’s Simandou blocks 1 & 2 iron ore project — which could reach 60 million mt a year from 2026 — is unlikely to unbalance the iron ore market due to its high grades and because capacity elsewhere has been taken out of

Iron ore charts for November 26, 2019: I still don’t expect this rally to get far but neither do I expect a new crash until we are through new year. In news, FMG is signalling that despite solid apparent demand during the restock, all is not well with underlying demand: Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group (FMG),

Just in time for China going ex-growth, via Platts: Chinese-backed mining, metals and logistics consortium SMB-Winning is seeking equity partners to participate inthe development of Guinea’s Simandou Blocks 1&2 iron ore deposit, Societe Miniere de Boke chairman Fadi Wazni said. It plans to produce 60 million mt/year of high grade ore in a first phase

Iron ore price charts for November 25, 2019: Spot flying. Paper flamed out. Steel flying. Typical year end restock. I’m not sure why steel is so excited. Things are not getting better for it. General global recovery hope, I guess. More price strength over the next few months, barring an invasion of Hong Kong.

The charts: Pretty typical year end retock now. I can’t see prices taking off but relatively firm conditions seem likely now through January, barring an accident. News is more CITIC losses: China’s Citic faces a fresh set of challenges at its $16bn Sino Iron mine in the Pilbara as the company looks to a rejig

Texture from Reuters: Reuters, citing trade experts and people close to the White House, reported that completion of the “phase one” trade deal could slide into next year, while Bloomberg quoted Chinese Vice Premier Liu He as saying he was “confused” about U.S. demands, but was confident that an agreement could be reached. Everything is

The rally runs on: Perhaps boosted by the PBOC nothing burger money market rate cut yesterday. No change for me. Firm pricing over the next few months, barring a shock, then down into Q2, 2020.

Texture from Reuters: Richard Lu, a senior analyst at metals consultancy CRU’s Beijing office, said the rally in steel prices remained supported by fundamentals in the physical market, with inventories falling and demand picking up. He also said a new round of operating restrictions on Chinese steel mills was possible. Rubbish. And the outlook is

Textur from Reuters: “Steel margins remain on the upward trend and as it stands we are back to early May levels,” said Hui Heng Tan, research analyst at commodity broker Marex Spectron. Margins have improved in the wake of declines in prices of feedstocks such as iron ore and coke. Spot prices of benchmark 62%

It’s all good again as steel and iron ore enjoy another bounce following China’s lousy growth report last week: China’s industrial economy is pretty weak but it is still being supported by the runaway building of empty apartments across lower tier cities. Thus things are still not bad enough for any material shift towards more

Texture from Reuters: Steel output was also curtailed by poor profits at mills. Besides surging iron ore prices that have pressured steel firms this year, analysts also noted that output from electric arc furnaces has been affected by higher scrap steel prices. “The price for steel scrap increased by almost 100 yuan ($14.30) per tonne

Via the FT: A Chinese-backed joint venture has secured the rights to develop Simandou, one of the world’s biggest untapped deposits of steelmaking ingredient iron ore. The award to the SMB-Winning consortium, whose investors include Chinese aluminium producer Shandong Weiqiao and the Yantaï Port Group, brings the development of a mine a step closer. Simandou

Texture via Reuters: Benchmark Dalian iron ore futures jumped in morning trade on Wednesday, extending gains for a second session, after China’s Premier Li Keqiang again vowed to ensure that key economic goals for this year are achieved. China should keep macro policies stable, improve the use of local government special bonds and strengthen support

Texture from Argus: China set winter pollution cuts of 2-3pc for east and central China today, raising ferrous price outlooks from expected steel supply cuts. …While the overall targets are relaxed from last year, steel supplies are tighter with steel inventories falling at a moderate pace, which could support prices, a Hebei mill iron ore

Via GLJ research: Iron Ore Prices Have Been Getting Battered Lately, at a Time When Seasonal and Cyclical Factors Suggest Prices Should Be Seeing Some Support; but, Given an Array of Company Production Updates + Trends in Seaborne Imports + Structural Changes in Chinese Steel Production, We Believe we Understand Why Prices Are “Bucking the