Prices for seaborne iron ore pellets inched up last week, though those for concentrate fell amid a downtrending futures market.
Fastmarkets iron ore indices
65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $215.11 per tonne, up $1.25 per tonne.
66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $177.12 per tonne, down $6.86 per tonne.
Key drivers
Sources said that fundamentals for iron ore pellets remained unchanged, which provided support to its prices.
A trading source in Singapore said that pellet supply remained tight in the seaborne market at a time when demand for such directly charged raw materials typically strengthen due to China's winter season.
But falling futures dragged down prices for iron ore concentrate, sources said.
The most-liquid May iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at 996 yuan ($153) per tonne last Thursday December 31, down by 63.50 yuan...