This Morning in Metals: Iron Ore Price’s Rise Slows
This morning in metals news, the iron ore price slipped Thursday, the Indian steel import market is dominated by Japan and South Korea, and trade tensions between the U.S. and China continue to gain.
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Iron Ore Slows Down
Supported by supply-side concerns, the iron ore price has surged so far this year.
However, on Thursday, Chinese iron ore futures slipped, Reuters reported, with the most-traded iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange falling 0.5% (albeit on lower volumes after higher transaction fees went into effect).
Japan, South Korea Dominate Indian Import Market
According to government data cited by Reuters, Japan and South Korea increased their share of the Indian steel import market to nearly two-thirds in April.
India’s steel imports from Japan increased 27% in April on a year-over-year basis, while imports from South Korea jumped 15%, according to Reuters.
Rising U.S.-China Tensions
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China are on the rise once again on the heels of the countries’ recent tariff tit-for-tat, in which President Trump raised tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods and China responded with tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods.
China on Thursday accused the U.S. of “economic terrorism,” CNN reported.
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As Stuart Burns noted this week, the situation could escalate further should China opt to leverage its dominance of the rare earths market.
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