The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China was up 9.9% to $114.50 for the week ending October 12, 2012, after staying at $104.20 for each day of the Chinese Golden Week holiday, and is now 28.7% higher than the recent low of $89.00 on 9/7/2012. Early week momentum faded however, as iron ore prices declined a total of 2.7% after peaking at $117.70/tonne on Wednesday.

For the first quarter of 2012, the spot price for iron ore averaged $141.84, and for 2Q, $139.35; this compares to an average of $176.90 for 1H 2011 and $167.59 for full-year 2011.

The post-recession low was $59.10 on March 27, 2009, while the high was $190.19 on February 17, 2011.

Source: The Steel Index