Seaborne iron ore pellet and concentrate prices rose further in the week ended Friday April 30, with healthy mill margins stimulating steelmakers' appetite for high-grade steelmaking raw materials.
Fastmarkets iron ore indices
66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $227.01 per tonne, up $7.88 per tonne.
65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $262.04 per tonne, up $9.66 per tonne
Key drivers
High prices for finished steel in China - likely the result of
the country's longer-term goal to cut capacity - have led to Chinese steelmakers enjoying very healthy margins, market sources said.
In addition, several sources said
ongoing measures to cut emissions in the country's Tangshan region - its biggest steel production hub - were bolstering demand for high-grade iron ore.
A massive resurgence of Covid-19 in India has sparked supply jitters over whether a lockdown in the South Asian country would affect the transportation of raw materials abroad.
A trading source in southern China said that...