Following a one-month consultation during which favorable feedback was received, Fastmarkets is widening its maximum acceptable alumina and phosphorus ranges for inclusion and normalization in its cfr China 65% Fe iron ore blast furnace pellet index (MB-IRO-0012).
This change will reflect more clearly the product types that Fastmarkets includes in this index and normalizes to its base specification, which have comprised a number of higher-alumina and higher-phosphorus brands since they became the prevailing source of liquidity in the cfr China spot market for iron ore pellets.
The base specifications of this index remains unchanged, meaning this change is not expected to have any material impact on the behavior of the price.
The new specifications are:
MB-IRO-0012 Iron ore 65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao, $/tonne
Quality: Fe content base 65%, range 60-70%; silica base 4.5%, max 6%; alumina base 0.4%, max 3.5%; phosphorus base 0.03%, max 0.08%; sulfur base 0.01%, max 0.02%; moisture base 2.0%/DW, max 3.0%/DW; granularity max size >90% >10.0mm; compression strength base 250daN, min 200daN
Quantity: Min 10,000 tonnes
Location: cfr Qingdao - normalized for any Chinese mainland sea port
Timing: Within eight weeks
Unit: $ per tonne
Payment terms: Letters of credit on sight - other payment terms normalized
Publication: Weekly. Friday at 6.30pm Singapore time
Notes: All origins. Data history from April 2012
To provide feedback on the amendments to the specifications, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to this index, please contact Peter Hannah by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Peter Hannah, re: Iron Ore Pellet Pricing”
To see all of Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to: https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.