The Steel Index (TSI) daily iron ore reference price hit its highest level in 12 months today, reaching US$107.40 per dry metric tonne. This reference price, for 62% Fe content fines CFRFO China port, represents an 82% increase since March, when the price dipped to US$59.10/dmt.

The price hit its previous high in August, before falling back sharply
to US$76.10/dmt in September. Since then prices have been volatile,
with this week alone seeing an increase of 5.2% despite falling freight
rates on the key routes into China.

“In my opinion, the levels we’ve seen in the spot market this week are
as a result of tightness in supply and continued Chinese demand. I
don’t see the market correcting for a least another week or two,” says
Jerry Yu a Hong Kong based trader. “It’s anyone’s guess what 2010 will
bring”. The volatility and rising spot price creates a

challenging background for the forthcoming iron ore benchmark price
discussions between the Chinese steel mills and miners for next year.
At current freight rates, the spot price is some 45-50% higher than the
FOB fixed contract price agreed between the Japanese steel mills and
Rio Tinto in mid 2009. No agreement on a benchmark iron ore price was
reached with the Chinese steel industry in 2009 and many

are skeptical that any agreement is likely for 2010.

Baosteel is representing the Chinese steel mills in next year’s
benchmark price negotiations. Its President, Mr. Ma Guoqiang, was
quoted earlier this week as not foreseeing a “large” increase in the
benchmark price. However Macquarie Bank has this week revised its
prediction to a 30% increase, while investment banks UBS, JP Morgan and
Goldman Sachs JBWere had already predicted a 20% rise prior to this
week’s spot price boost.

“In this environment miners, traders and steel mills are increasingly
looking to index-based iron ore pricing arrangements, often in parallel
with financial swaps to manage their price risk” says Steven Randall,
Managing Director of TSI. “The growth in the use of iron ore swaps this
year has been nothing short of spectacular. Over US$500m of iron ore
swaps have been cleared using TSI’s index over the past 7 months. No
other commodity has seen this speed of take-up.”

TSI’s iron ore index is used for settling over-the-counter cleared
swaps. The Singapore Exchange and LCH.Clearnet both offer cleared iron
ore swaps contracts settling exclusively against the monthly average of
TSI’s daily 62% Fe iron ore reference prices published in the expiring
month.

Source: The Steel Inde

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• China, the iron ore prices rise 9.2%

    The Steel Index daily iron ore price reference price reached US$104.1 per dry metric tonne on Friday. The price, published daily for 62% Fe content fines delivered China, and has surged upward, increasing by 5.0% on yesterday and 9.2% over the week. This is the highest level since the index was

• Iron ore swaps trading live at the London Dry bulk electronic trading

    Iron ore swaps have traded consistently on the LDB-X trading platform launched by London Dry Bulk (LDB). The iron ore swaps market has progressed in the level of its sophistication.

• Imports of ore inventory went into the main ports in the past week

    Data showed that till the close of last week, the imported ore inventories was 66.45mln tons, down 300,000 tons from the previous week. Till the end of last week, the stock of Australian ore decreased 440,000 tons to 21.51mln tons, Brazilian ore dropped 50,000 tons to 19.05mln tons and Indian

• East Asian steel scrap and pig iron imports continue to rise offer

    The tight supply and increasing spot ore price propelled the import offer of East Asia scrap steel and pig iron to climb continuously. Presently the price of No.1 and No.2 heavy scrap stands at U.S.$360-365 per ton (CFR) and the offer of pig iron increases to U.S.$380-390 per ton (CFR).

• China pig iron price go up again recently

    It is learned that China’s steel mills still maintain high production, strong demand and short supply, which help China domestic pig iron price go up again.

• China steel price has been 14 weeks

     Steels prices in China had kept climbing by 14 straight weeks till last week, according to statistics from the China Iron and Steel Association. The composite price index of steel products reached 104.88 last week, up 1.12 percent over the previous week. Lange Steel’s survey on 30 steel products showed that

• Indian iron ore spot offer was quickly back to 100 U.S. Dollar

    India took down the price of iron ore exported to China, to US$100 per ton. In the beginning of this week, 63.5% India powder ore price was US$103-105 per ton (CFR), after that, the price rapidly slid. The local mine was eager to dispatch the products, offering US$100, but the

• Anben Karara iron ore project approved, and probably kick-off in Q4

    The Karara Iron Ore Project jointly operated by the Australian iron ore company Gindalbie and the Chinese Anben Iron and Steel Group has been approved by Australia’s relevant authorities, enabling the project to kick off in the fourth quarter. Gindalbie made the announcement this week, saying the approval marks a

• Anben Karara iron ore project approved, and probably kick-off in Q4

    The Karara Iron Ore Project jointly operated by the Australian iron ore company Gindalbie and the Chinese Anben Iron and Steel Group has been approved by Australia’s relevant authorities, enabling the project to kick off in the fourth quarter. Gindalbie made the announcement this week, saying the approval marks a

• The deadlock of Sino-Australian iron ore negotiations in domestic steel mills led to losses

    Some research institutes said that the effort made by China to ask Australian ore makers to reduce more price did not benefit domestic steel mills, instead lift their purchasing cost. China hopes to get more beneficial price from Australian manufacturers, but its efforts backfired. The body pointed out that some steel mills

• Iron Ore Spike Will Squeeze The steel producer

    The nascent iron ore swaps market implies that iron ore prices could stay elevated for the foreseeable future, as per recent data from ICAP. Most recently China-related prices have surged to new highs. This is good news for major ore producers such as Vale, Rio Tinto, and BHP, and not

• S. Korean steelmakers Begin to Raise Steel Prices

    Amid the recent rise in raw material prices, South Korea’s price of steel products including an iron bar is to increase. According to industry insiders on Monday, Hyundai Steel has decided to raise its steel prices centering on long products and apply price increases from on February 2. Consequently, other

• Turkish scrap import to the top

    Learned from market players that Turkey scrap import price continued rising, since last week, only two batches of scrap was booked. One batch of HMS 1&2 80:20 and P&S in Europe sold to a certain steel mill with U.S.$347 per ton (CFR), another batch of HMS 1&2 70:30 was bought

• Chinas Baosteel in February producer prices increased

    Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (Baosteel), the nation’s largest steel mill, significantly raised its February manufacturer prices, the China Daily reported Thursday.

• China s Baosteel in February producer prices increased

    Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (Baosteel), the nation’s largest steel mill, significantly raised its February manufacturer prices, the China Daily reported Thursday. Major steel wire product prices went up 300 yuan (44 U.S.