Limited supply, strong futures spark seaborne iron ore pellet price surge

Prices for seaborne iron ore pellets surged in the week to Friday December 18 along with the rest of the sector for the steelmaking raw material amid supply concerns and strong gains in the futures market, sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets iron ore indices
66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $168.71 per tonne, up $6.14 per tonne.
65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $199.28 per tonne, up $13.57 per tonne
Key drivers
The weekly average of Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao rose by $5.14 per tonne last week to a record high of $170.24 per tonne.
Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao also rose to its highest in 11 years.

Last week's spot price increases for iron ore have been largely attributed to gains in the futures and swaps contracts on the Dalian Commodity Exchange and the Singapore Exchange, which in turn received...

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