Iron ore market participants said Simandou’s production ramp-up remains on track to meet market expectations, with growing exports from Guinea expected to influence freight markets, high-grade ore pricing and steel decarbonization strategies.

A tentative easing of tensions in the Middle East has failed to convince market participants that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will quickly return to pre-conflict norms, panellists said at Fastmarkets' Iron Ore Decoded 2026 conference, held during Singapore International Ferrous Week.

India's drive toward 300 million tonnes per year of steelmaking capacity by 2030 is on track from a capacity standpoint, but panellists at Fastmarkets' Iron Ore Decoded 2026 conference said the country's domestic iron ore base is likely to fall short of supporting that growth.

The iron ore market in 2026 shows fragile recovery driven by rising freight costs rather than demand growth. This dynamic challenges pricing signals and margin management for miners and processors.

The proposal can be found here. Why has Fastmarkets issued a price consultation for the 65% Fe iron ore index? This is to ensure that the 65% Fe iron ore index continues to reflect the reality of the physical spot market, as well as to capture more data points for the index.   Will the […]

Under the change, Fastmarkets will update the normalization coefficient for its Iron ore 61% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao and Iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao indices on a daily basis, from Tuesday. This allows the coefficient to better reflect daily price movements. The normalization coefficient was previously updated on a monthly basis. The decision […]

Under the proposed change, Fastmarkets will update the normalization coefficient for its Iron ore 61% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao and Iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao indices on a daily basis, allowing the coefficient to better reflect daily price movements. The normalization coefficient is currently updated on a monthly basis. Fastmarkets had observed that […]

The new indices have been introduced in response to feedback from index users requesting more pricing references for high-grade iron ore fines and their related VIU adjustments in the seaborne market, in addition to Fastmarkets’ existing coverage on mid-grade VIUs. The VIU penalties are calculated through a regression analysis that harnesses data points from Fastmarkets’ […]

Steel markets in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are facing a growing supply crisis for steel and raw materials after the month-long regional conflict paralyzed shipping.

Decarbonization has become the defining theme for heavy industry. With the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) now in force and mounting pressure to curb emissions, hard-to-abate sectors such as steel are being pushed to adapt to a lower-carbon economy.