Seaborne prices resilient despite virus impact

摘要

Iron ore prices rallied strongly over February 10-14 with the S&P Global Platts 62% Fe iron ore index closing at $88.35/dmt on the last day of the week, up $5.7/dmt on the week. The price recovery – prices had fallen to just above $80/mt at the start of February – was fueled by mills restocking amid supply tightness. The elongated Lunar New Year holiday was mooted to end on February 9 (except in Hubei) but a Platts survey shows probably half of the workforce continue to work from home. Despite mounting finished steel inventories at mills, there have not been large-scale mill maintenance or production cuts yet as mills are not yet fully staffed to carry out maintenance work due to the coronavirus epidemic. As a result, raw materials levels continued to decline, resulting in restocking demand.