[ferro-alloys.com]High price levels on the 65%-Fe indexes and expectations of increased supply are expected to thin near-term demand and liquidity for imported iron ore concentrates in China, market sources said June 11.

Amid strengthening price levels for medium grade fines on concerns over tightening iron ore supply and portside demand, market participants pointed to a different picture for high grade concentrates.

Concentrates are primarily sold on a 65%-Fe index in the spot market and sellers have pointed to recent high levels on these as putting off potential buyers.

The 65%-Fe indexes are driven by high-grade Carajas fines from Brazil and there is a liquidity value embedded in its price due to its volume, a trader said. High-grade concentrate supply tends to be scattered among many producers in much smaller volumes leading to them being much less liquid in comparison, the source added.

Although many concentrates have better specifications than Carajas fines, end-users would want a sintering loss discount for hematite concentrates due to their finer sizing as compared to Carajas fines, a seller said. Magnetite concentrates usually sell at a premium to the 65%-Fe index but demand is lukewarm now due to a lack of incentive for end-users to pelletize and produce pellets for blast furnace usage, the source added.

Weaker ex-China steel production this year due to the coronavirus outbreak has also led to a diversion in high-grade concentrate cargoes towards China, further increasing available supply.

Aside from the usual concentrate brands available, there are quite a number of non-mainstream products offered currently with weaker European and North Asian iron ore demand, a Chinese end-user said. Usage of new concentrates with different chemical compositions will require changes to blast furnace operations, and without a guarantee of sustained supply, end-users require wider discounts to consider utilizing them, the source added.

Domestic concentrate production has been at high levels and even with stronger demand, they are still comparatively more cost-efficient than imported options, a Chinese trader said. As such, the target market for imported concentrates is likely to be coastal mills which already have quite a number of available options on offer, the source added.

Buyers looking to take long positions on iron ore are only keen on liquid products like mainstream Australian fines rather than steering towards high grade options, several traders said.

While steel margins seem to be supported in the near term, there is a general reluctance for end-users to increase their usage of high-grade iron ore due to the lack of flexibility to reverse their usage if margins start to weaken, a procurement source said.

There are also operational costs involved in adapting to higher-grade sinter feed and the preference is to maintain the status quo, the source added.

(S&P Global Platts)

• [Editor:王可]