CHARTS: The coming critical minerals trade war is BRICS short of a load
"While a large number of countries around the world continue to talk about securing raw material supply, China is actually doing something about it."
The 62% Fe import price including freight and insurance at the Chinese port of Tianjin lost $0.50 or 0.9% to $57.60 a tonne on Tuesday. After almost halving in 2014, the price of iron ore is now down nearly 24% this year.
Tuesday’s peg was the lowest price since November 2008 when The SteelIndex, a unit of Platts, first started tracking the spot price. In 2008, the benchmark contract price was $60.80 a tonne, which was hiked from the annually-set price in 2007 of $36.63.
State-owned Swedish iron ore producer LKAB last month announced it will cut 400 jobs following a collapse in profitability during the fourth quarter 2014 and today another Scandinavian operator is in trouble.
Platts reports Dannemora Mineral AB said it has ceased iron ore production due to “limited liquidity”. It’s not a huge operator, but typical of the small and mid-tier operators struggling to survive amid the Big Three scorched earth expansion strategies.
“Dannemora Mineral AB has on the date hereof determined to cease with all production until the company’s imminent liquidity situation has been assessed,” the company said in statement dated Monday.
In Q3 2014, Dannemora shipped 290,000 mt of finished fines and lump ore product to customers.
Dannemora, which operates an iron ore mine of the same name, has faced difficulties over the past two years securing financing for the mine.
Continue reading at Platts News.
Comments
Paulo Sousa
A predictable casualty. I would keep an eye also in Rana Gruber and Northern Iron. Their high cost production should be struggling to keep afloat in the current iron ore market.