Despite the fact that Anglo American continues to struggle to bring its Minas Rio iron ore mine into production, while iron ore prices hover at the $110/ton range CEO, Mark Cutifani said, “We still believe in a world where iron ore [mining] can be profitable at a cost of 50 dollars per ton.”

For a long time, $50/ton iron ore had become the norm. In fact, if we examine the past 30 years, one could make an argument that $15/dry metric ton (or less) served as the industry norm.

Source: Index Mundi

But despite Anglo’s issues, some steel market indicators have moved. On Friday, June 7, the day’s biggest mover was the steel billet cash price, which saw a 3.8 percent increase on the LME to $135.00 per metric ton. This increase comes after three straight days of stagnant prices. Last Friday, the steel billet 3-month price experienced a large decrease, rising 3.3 percent on the LME to land at $155.00 per metric ton.

Chinese steel prices were mixed for the day. The price of iron ore 58% fines from India hit a high price of CNY 840.00 ($136.83) and a low price of CNY 830.00 ($135.20) per dry metric ton. Chinese HRC closed 0.3 percent lower at CNY 3,430 ($558.73) per metric ton. The price of Chinese coking coal remained steady at CNY 1,410 ($229.68) per metric ton.

The US HRC futures contract 3-month price declined 0.2 percent to $605.00 per short ton. The spot price of the US HRC futures contract remained essentially flat at $588.00 per short ton.
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