Iron ore prices: a story of ups and downs

On Tuesday’s session, iron ore spot markets finished mixed. Lower grades of 58% fines added 0.1% to $36.69 a tonne, greatly outperforming higher grades. The latter, particularly ore with 65% Fe content, fell by 1.5% to $83.60 a tonne.

The premium for iron ore lump, normally used in blast furnaces, also fell to its smallest margin since August 21, to $22 a tonne.

On the bright side, the price for benchmark 62% fines rose 0.7% to $62.42 a tonne, the Metal Bulletin reports. The spike reversed a decline of the same magnitude experienced the previous day.

Today’s numbers left analysts and investors scratching their heads, considering that China’s move to cut steel production to address environmental concerns has pushed higher grade and lump iron ore prices up in the past months.