Seaborne mid-grade iron ore prices continued to stay below the $90 per tonne mark on Thursday October 17.
Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.06 per tonne, down $0.80 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $86.10 per tonne, down $0.80 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.84 per tonne, down $0.54 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $76.56 per tonne, down $0.17 per tonne.65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.70 per tonne, down $0.20 per tonne. 62% Fe fines, fot Qingdao: 699 yuan per wet metric tonne (implied 62% Fe China Port Price, $90.49 per dry tonne), down 16 yuan per wmt.Key driversOverall steel product inventories were supposedly lower this week compared with the previous week, lending some support to Chinese steel futures, according to market sources.But China's iron ore futures were largely rangebound on Thursday, with the benchmark iron ore contract ending around 0.3% lower compared to the closing price from the previous day.Iron ore...