Anglo American No Lift From Iron Ore Price But Steel Billet Up

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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