Iron ore regained more ground after falling to its lowest since September 2012 earlier in the week as some buyers snapped cargoes after this year’s sharp fall in prices although ample supplies may limit a further recovery.
Iron ore has stayed below $100 a tonne for about a month now, much longer than it did during the 2012 slump, as a market glut combined with tighter credit conditions in top importer China.
Ore with 62 percent iron content, the industry benchmark, rose 1.1 percent to $90.30 a tonne on Wednesday, gaining more ground after falling to a 21-month low of $89 on Monday, based on data from compiler Steel Index.
Iron ore futures were mixed on Thursday, with the August contract on the Singapore Exchange up 0.6 percent at $89.77 a tonne, while iron ore for September delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was off 0.3 percent at 665 yuan ($110) per tonne.
Buying interest for spot cargoes picked up after a recent rapid fall in prices with miners selling via tenders, private deals and the globalORE platform, traders said.
Top iron ore supplier Vale is offering two cargoes of its Brazilian iron ore fines, with total volume of nearly 300,000 tonnes, in tenders closing on Thursday, traders said.
Second-ranked Rio Tinto is offering a 170,000-tonne cargo of its 61 percent grade Australian iron ore fines in a separate tender, traders said.
China’s demand for iron ore remains fairly strong given brisk steel output. The country’s large steelmakers produced a record high 1.833 million tonnes of crude steel on average a day in the first 10 days of June, based on data from the China Iron and Steel Association.
But traders say the available iron ore supply still trounces China’s needs.
“I’m not sure the market has reached a bottom. There’s too much stocks at the ports and the price at the ports is much cheaper than fresh seaborne cargoes,” said a Shanghai-based trader.
Inventory of imported iron ore at Chinese ports stood at 113 million tonnes last week SH-TOT-IRONINV, still near a record-high of 113.6 million tonnes reached at the end of May, according to Steelhome, which tracks the data.
“Concerns over end-user steel demand is holding back gains in (iron ore) with China’s real estate market showing signs of a cyclical slowdown,” Australia and New Zealand Bank said in a note.
The most-traded rebar contract for October delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was little changed at 3,015 yuan a tonne. The contract touched an all-time low of 2,994 yuan on Tuesday.
Data on Wednesday showed China’s average home prices fell for the first time in two years in May and price weakness spread to more major cities, adding to signs of cooling in the property market which are posing a growing risk to the broader economy.