The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China fell 1.0% to $135.90 for the week ending April 5, 2013 and was some 14.5% below the recent high of $158.90 on February 20.
The spot price for iron ore averaged $148.20/tonne in 1Q13, some 22.9% higher than 4Q12’s $120.57/tonne. The full-year 012 average was $128.30/tonne.
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
New Report Preview:
February global steel production rose 5.2%, from 4.18 million tonnes per day (mtpd) in January to 4.40, and was up 4.8% year-over-year. Capacity utilization also… more
For a copy of our full report and a free trial subscription, please contact us.
The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China fell 0.9% to $150.60 for the week ending March 1, 2013 and moved down another 1.2% to $148.8 on Monday – down some 6.4% from the recent high of $158.90 reached on February 20, 2013.
The spot price for iron ore averaged $139.35 in 2Q12, $112.12 in 3Q12, and $120.57 in 4Q12; this compares to an average of $128.30 for full-year 2012.
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
For the week ending March 2, 2013, weekly domestic raw steel production rose 0.8% to 1.857 million tons (mt) – the highest level since 9/1/12 when production was 1,864 tons.
We would caution readers that only half of the AISI reporting companies release their weekly production in “real time” so the other half of this data is estimated using the last month’s reported production & operating rate. What this means is that when production is changing, the weekly data is actually understating the change.
Capacity utilization came in at 77.5%, up from 76.9% last week and from the year-ago level of 80.4%.
The lowest production since the recession began was 800,000 tons for the week of December 27, 2008, while the highest was 2.005 mt for the week of May 12, 2012. The lowest capacity utilization rate since the recession began was 33.5% for the week of December 27, 2008; the highest was 81.1% on May 12, 2012.
Source: AISI and Steel Market Intelligence
For the week ending February 23, 2013, weekly domestic raw steel production jumped 1.6% to 1.843 million tons (mt) – the highest level since 9/1/12 when production was 1.864 tons.
We would caution readers that only half of the AISI reporting companies release their weekly production in “real time” so the other half of this data is estimated using the last month’s reported production & operating rate. What this means is that when production is changing, the weekly data is actually understating the change.
Capacity utilization came in at 76.9%, up from 75.7% last week and from the year-ago level of 80.7%.
The lowest production since the recession began was 800,000 tons for the week of December 27, 2008, while the highest was 2.005 mt for the week of May 12, 2012. The lowest capacity utilization rate since the recession began was 33.5% for the week of December 27, 2008; the highest was 81.1% on May 12, 2012.
Source: AISI and Steel Market Intelligence
The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China Increased 0.6% to $154.90 for the week ending January 11, 2012 but closed down 2.1% from the 15-month high $158.50 on 1/8/2012. The price has since moved down another 0.2% to $154.60 on Monday.
The spot price for iron ore averaged $139.35 in 2Q12, $112.12 in 3Q12, and $120.57 in 4Q12; this compares to an average of $128.30 for full-year 2012.
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
