The amendment was proposed to realign the base specification of the index with the prevailing quality of high-grade fines traded on the spot market, which would minimize the need for price normalization in the index-calculation process.
Feedback gathered from market participants has been supportive of the proposed changes because the amendments are also in line with longer-term expectations of product specifications in the high-grade fines segment. This will ensure the index remains more product-aligned in terms of quality further into the future.
As of December 3, the full new specifications for the MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Index are as follows:
Price: US$ per dry metric tonne, cfr China
Material origin: Brazil
Fe content: Base 65.0%, range 63.5-66%
Silica: Base 1.7%
Alumina: Base 1.5%
Phosphorus: Base 0.08%
Sulfur: Base 0.01%
Moisture: Base 9.0%
Granularity: >90%<10.0mm, <30%<0.15mm
Trade size: Minimum 30,000 tonnes
Payment terms: Payment at sight
Delivery port: Base Qingdao
Delivery period: Within 10 weeks
Publication: Daily at 6.30pm Singapore time
Data history: From August 2013
To provide feedback on this price or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to this price, please contact Peter Hannah by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Peter Hannah, re: MBIOI-65-BZ.”
All of Fastmarkets MB’s pricing methodology and specification documents can be found here.