Prices for seaborne iron ore pellets and concentrate plunged further in the week ended Friday August 20 amid weak demand and a downtrend in the futures market.
Fastmarkets iron ore indices
Iron ore pellet premium over 65% Fe fines, cfr China: $34.50 per tonne, down $6.70 per tonne.
65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $207.74 per tonne, down $20.62 per tonne.
66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $169.99 per tonne, down $16.70 per tonne.
Key drivers
Limited trading activity in the physical iron ore market last week aggravated the bearish outlook for demand. As a result, iron ore futures tumbled, which in turn sent seaborne prices for iron ore, especially high-grade fines, nosediving, a trading source in Shanghai said.
Iron ore pellets and concentrate tracked the price movements of the high-grade fines, the source told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets' index for...